352 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



the points of the branches which have grown the 

 present season, most persons have undoubtedly 

 noticed numbers of a small green insect, and in 

 company with them and very busily engaged, nu- 

 merous black ants, travelling back and forth as 

 though they were engaged on some important mis- 

 sion. The green insects, or aphides, we have ex- 

 amined under the microscope, and found the hour 

 devoted to them most happily spent. In addition 

 to the antenna3, or feelers, we found on these in- 

 sects two beautiful brushes, or feathers, project- 

 ing nearly perpendicularly from the top of the 

 head, and movable in any direction. On the ex 

 tremity of the body were two black tubes, blunt 

 like the end of the fore-finger, of the use of which 

 we had no sort of idea at the time of the exami- 

 nation. In taking a common pocket magnifier to 

 the tree and watching through it the movements 

 of the ants, we found them licking or feeding upon 

 something which always seemed to be present 

 where the aphides were. And this, undoubtedly, 

 i3 the fact. We are happy, however, to yield the 

 imperfect description wbich we should only be 

 able to give, to one better versed on these subjects 

 than we can ever hope to be. In the work on In- 

 sects injurious to Vegetation in Massachusetts, in 

 Professor Harris' lively and attractive style, we 

 find the following interesting relation ; and for 

 which we feel confident our readers will be no less 

 thankful to the writer than we are ourselves : — 



"The genus to which plant-lice belong is called 

 aphis, from a Greek word which signifies to ex- 

 haust. The following are the principal charac- 

 ters by which they may be distinguished from oth- 

 er insects. Their bodies are short, oval, and soft. 

 and are furnished at the hinder extremity with 

 two little tubes, knobs, or pores, from which ex- 

 ude almost constantly minute drops of a fluid as 

 sweet as honey ; their heads are small, their beaks 

 are very long and tubular, their eyes are globular, 

 but they have not eyelets, their antennas are long, 

 and usually taper towards the extremity, and their 

 legs are also long and very slender, and there are 

 only two joints to their feet. Their upper are 

 nearly twice as large as the lower wings, are much 

 longer than the body, are gradually widened to- 

 wards the extremity, and nearly triangular ; they 

 are almost vertical when at rest, and cover the 

 body above like a very sharp-ridged roof. 



"Plant-lice seem to love society, and often herd 

 together in dense masses, each one remaining 

 fixed to the plant by means of its long tubular 

 beak ; and they rarely change their places till 

 they have exhausted the part first attacked. The 

 attitudes and manners of these little creatures are 

 exceedingly amusing. When disturbed, like res- 

 tive horses, they begin to kick and sprawl in the 

 most ludicrous manner. They may be seen, at 

 times, suspended by their beaks alone, and throw- 

 ing up their legs as if in a high frolic, but too 

 much engaged in sucking to withdraw their beaks. 

 As they take in great quantities of sap, they would 

 so; m become gorged if they did not get rid of the 

 superabundant fluid through the two little tubes 



or pores at the extremity of their bodies. When 

 one of them gets running-over full, it seems to 

 communicate its uneasy sensations, by a kind of 

 animal magnetism, to the whole flock, upon which 

 they all, with one accord, jerk upwards their bo- 

 dies, and eject a shower of the honeyed fluid. 

 The leaves and bark of plants much infested by 

 these insects are often completely sprinkled over 

 with drops of this sticky fluid, which, on drying, 

 become dark colored, and greatly disfigure the fo- 

 liage. This appearance has been denominated 

 honey-dew ; but there is another somewhat simi- 

 lar production observable on plants, after very dry 

 weather, which has received the same name, and 

 consists of an extravasation or oozing of the sap 

 from the leaves. We are often apprized of the 

 presence of plant-lice on plants growing in the 

 open air by the ants ascending and descending the 

 stem. By observing the motions of the latter we 

 soon ascertain that the sweet fluid discharged by 

 the lice is the occasion of these visits. The stems 

 swarm with slim and hungry ants running up- 

 wards, and others lazily descending with their 

 bellies swelled almost to bursting. When ar- 

 rived in the immediate vicinity of the plant-lice, 

 they greedily wipe up the sweet fluid which has 

 distilled from them, and, when this fails, they sta- 

 tion themselves among the lice, and catch the 

 drops as they fall. The lice do not seem in the 

 least annoyed by the ants, but live on the best 

 possible terms with them ; and, on the other 

 hand, the ants, though unsparing of other insects 

 weaker than themselves, upon which they fre- 

 quently prey, treat the plant-lice with the utmost 

 gentleness, carressing them with their antennas, 

 and apparently inviting them to give out the fluid 

 by patting their sides. Nor are the lice inatten- 

 tive to these solicitations, when in a state to grat- 

 ify the ants, for whose sake they not only seem to 

 shorten the periods of the discharge, but actually 

 yield the fluid when thus pressed. A single louse 

 has been known to give it drop by drop successive- 

 ly to a number of ants, that were waiting anx- 

 iously to receive it. When the plant-lice cast 

 their skins, the ants instantly remove the latter, 

 nor will they allow any dirt or rubbish to remain 

 upon or about them. They even protect them 

 from their enemies, and run about them in the hot 

 sunshine to drive away the little ichneumon flies, 

 that are forever hovering near to deposit their 

 eggs in the body of the lice." 



HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY FAIR. 



The Annual Exhibition of the Hillsborough Ag- 

 ricultural Society will take place at Nashua, N. 

 EL, on the 29th and 30th September next. The 

 editor of the Granite Farmer says "the influence 

 of the previous fairs of the society are readily to 

 be seen in the improved cultivation of farms and in 

 the introduction of improved breeds of cattle and 

 horses." The Hillsborough Society has a vitality 

 about it which would prove beneficial to many oth- 

 er similar associations. Like merchants and man- 

 ufacturers, they consider a day devoted occasion- 

 ally td the discussion of their affairs as profitably 

 spent, and consequently continue their meetings 

 beyond the winter months. May we all profit by 

 the good example they afford us. 



