ORCHARD INSECTS 



303 



The Apple-aphis* (5, 58), or green apple-aphis, is of a 

 bright green color with the tips of the antennae, the honey- 

 tubes, and the tail jet black. The small oval black eggs are 

 found around the buds of the trees during the winter and 

 hatch just as the leaf buds are bursting in the spring. The 

 young aphides soon cause the 

 young leaves to curl. They 

 excrete a large amount of 

 sticky honey-dew. This 

 attracts ants, which feed upon 

 it, and on it grows a sooty 

 black fungus which gives the 

 infested tree a characteristic 

 appearance. During the sum- 

 mer some of the generations 

 develop wings and spread to 

 neighboring trees, but only 

 apple, pear and quince are 

 attacked. In the fall the true 

 males and females appear, 

 each of the latter laying a 

 single winter egg. 



The Rosy Apple-aphis f (5) 

 is larger than the last species, 

 and is commonly of a rosy 

 color, though the wingless fe- 

 males vary from salmon or tan 

 color to slaty-gray or purplish- 

 black. The wingless female is about one-tenth inch long, 

 the abdomen being dark reddish-brown, covered with a 

 powdery substance which gives it a deep blue color, the mid- 

 dle being lighter yellowish, and she becomes darker with age. 

 * Aphis pomi DeGeer. f Aphis sorbi Kalt. 



FIG. 217. The apple-aphis 

 winter eggs on twig. 



