KNOWLEDGE 



[JcLT 31, 1885. 



V'Z I 



■rfi.; 



;,.|. 1 



sense-cirgaiis, and, when a spot is silccteil for :■ 

 pressed ajainft tlie leaf, but nut into it, and tip 

 wriggled in. Thej' not only make a luimif, i . ', i, • 

 irritate the plant and cause its sap to flow, 'llu- (h.cus 

 family are remarkable for the low condition of tlieir 

 adults. They lose all power of motion, and without 

 careful examination with a magnifying-glass would be 

 taken for de.id masses. The Seale-bu-s bring up their 

 <.ffsi i-iug under the e"Vor of the mother's body. The 

 fullgr.iwn mealv-bu-s, entt..n-bngs, &c., have the same 

 degraded character. The mischief they do is con- 

 spicnons enough, but it should be remembered in favour 

 of these creature.s, that a Mexican species which feeds 

 upon a cactus gives tis cochineal, and others snpi:)ly the 

 different kinds of lac. 



Another set of jdant foes which came under the general 

 term of "blights,- belong to the Am.-hnoidor ov spider- 

 like ere;itures consisting of mites and their allies. Any 

 one who has observed a cheese-mite under the micioscope 

 will easily recognise most of these creatures. In their 

 adult stage the great majority have the spider's allow- 

 ance of eight legs, but only six in earlier states. 

 The most tormenting to the gardener is the so-called 

 "Red Spider" that does great harm in melon-beds. 

 The young ones are yellowish, not red, and readily- 

 distinguished from the aphides by their greater resem- 

 blance to minute spiders. They have sharp pointed 

 snouts. In Andrew Murray's interesting work entitled 

 "Economic Entomology^ he gives the figure we copy, 

 and also another from Qlaparide, showing the snout like 

 that of the Dog Tick furnished with reversed barbs- this 

 I never saw in the Red Spider, though I have examined 

 a good many. 



Mites attack the leaves of the lime, tlie vine, and many 

 others, producing little bubbles, under which they may 

 be found. It would occupy a life to study all the species 

 of these various plnnt j'lrrr-;. ^. Int the main characters 

 of the different onl, V- , I', ...^ni^^.d. The aphides 



puzzle the beginner . j- J females and males, 



wMch are quite unli; -• ti,. i% ii:j|, ,-, female-s and ttsually 

 very beautiful from their large and iridescent organs of 

 flight. Winged specimens early in the season are most 

 likely viviporous females ; later they may be males ; and 

 for further partictilars we must refer the" inquirer to Mr. 

 Buckton's admirable work. Dissecting these soft small 



thin 



a delicate task, but e 



I ugh 



squeezing i 



l,i>: -,.. Ii 1~ ,■ -t i-lv L.:i.aMi til he ) roduced by 



, >.-,.!'., ,,,:■.• fr^.i.i thr pbiiits, is s'till in 

 ,ii>puu-, lhu,i-'i', ti,.'.,|.l,.-i iv'iii isllHMnnsi ir..bable. The 

 aphides u.sui.liv . crnl^ ii:r „•■..]■ r M;rf:i<-. of leaves, and 

 from that posiiinn tli."v i;.:,v iiiM'v ^'r-p tlit- iluid on the 

 upper side nf thr l.:,w, \\lr,, t"l;rm. liur leaves are 

 ■■ ,:p::!1v r :nA '.V. :: ■- .t 1- - f'-i.i 111 auidiince of the 

 ; ." .. ■; , : . ■'• ■ -^ ;il.-.v. them; and 



, ; ■ . ' • ■ ■ ] ',,!!T- Ir, vi- exuded it 



I, ,-. •.•r.^i;. : >■..• . f Miii.r (li,> ,l><^ Wln-n il tirst appears, 

 liMwrvor, no symptom of .such disease is recognisable, 



rihis, ontlined after Buckton. The i 

 black. 



Fig. 2. Its roBtmm. The fine bristles are in the iri 

 be protraded a considerable length when required. 



Fig. 3. Tefrnnychus telarius, or Eed Spider, as givi 

 from Clapar^dai 



I by Murray 



but the leaves soon become sickly and the sweet stuff 

 is favourable to the growth of that greenhouse pest, the 

 black fungus, FunuKjo varians. Mr. Buckton inclines to 

 the aphis origin of honeydew, and observes : " Even 

 when no aphides are feeding above, myriads of the 

 winged forms often fill the air on a hot summer's day, 

 and void their juices while on the wing, just as we see 

 in some of the lepidoptera." The sugar in honeydew 

 has been identified by Iloussaingault as of the cane sort. 

 Bees do not take any notice of it so far as my observa- 

 tions go, although it may be plentiful close by the 

 flowers they frequent. 



water-drop will show a good deal, and for creatures 

 which lead inactive lives, except in the matter of feeding 

 themselves, the extent of their tracheal or tube-breathing 

 apparatus is very large. The plentiful aeration is neces- 

 sary to maintain the activity of the generative process 

 • The tracheal tubes, with their spiral 'wire to keep them 

 -^/extended, are recogui.sed by their glittering' aspect, and 

 '^require a magnification of" 500, or so, linear, to show ', 

 t-,'t;hem well. A beginner should familiarise himself with | 

 ''"'their asjuct in larirer insects, or he may miss them alto- i 

 -'.gether in th.- sniuller ones. 



■■.:;: The leavrs of greenhouse plants, as well as those of 

 fruit and other trees, axe often found spotted over with 

 the sweet tenacious fluid called honeydew. This sticky 

 substance stops up their pores, and produces much 



COLOSSAL SfTLPTURE.* 



By il. Baetiimi.m. 



tliil tliriirt li::- fiu'ii I 1 "i. 1 - T ime been the object 

 iririsTH. :M:inv j n --i,- ,.,., m it only a striking pro- 

 i-n, and d,. ui.t un.l. iMaud il.^ jieculiar laws, its diffi- 



ilnssal statuary dues not consist simply in making an 

 nous statu.-, "it ought to i.roduce an "emotion in the 



■• ■ f 11- s|:, ,-f,,t. I-, not luTiaisi' <'f its volume, but 

 ■ :!i k.-l-in- ^vitli tin- i.l.M that it inter- 



irh 



•upy. 



It 



iniited order of 

 i.leis. if. Lesbazeilles, in his work on the Colo.ssi has 



• From the lH-u- Yori Tribune. 



