120 THE INSECT WOULD. 



wingless (Fig. 89, 90). The last-named are the largest : and are a 

 line and a half long. They are entirely green, except two parts, 



Figs. 89, 90. Wingless Aphides, or Plant-lice (magnified). 



of which we will speak immediately. The body is oval ; the head 

 is small, and furnished with two brown eyes. The skin smooth, 

 and tight drawn over the body. The antennae, which are very 

 long and slender, almost exceed the body in length. The six legs 

 are long and slim, and the feet terminated in two hooks, short. 

 On the upper part of the body are two small cylindrical horns, 

 surmounted by a small button. The antennae and these horns 

 are black. 



The winged individuals are of the same size as these, but of a 

 dark green, mixed with black. The wings are transparent, the 

 upper ones as long again as the body. The young shoots of the 

 elder-tree are often covered with black plant-lice, or with 

 those of a greenish-black colour, all round their circumference 

 for the length of from a foot to a foot and a half. They are 

 crowded one against the other, and sometimes there are two layers 

 of them. 



If observed without moving the plant about, they appear to be 

 tranquil and inactive. They are, however, then absorbing from 

 the plant the nourishment it should have ; piercing with the 

 point of their trunks the epidermis of the leaves or stalks, and 

 drawing from them a nourishing liquid. 



But this occupation is confined to those which are on the plant 

 itself. Those which, on account of the enormous agglomeration 

 of these insects, walk, not on the branch, but on other plant-lice, 

 and cannot therefore suck the sap of the plant, are employed 

 entirely in preserving and multiplying their species. 



Reaumur often saw the latter, easily recognised by their great 

 size, giving birth to little plant-lice, which are quite alive when 



