CHAPTER XII. 



INSECTS, RATS, DISEASES, AND ENEMIES. 



FEW, IF ANY plants are absolutely free from insect pests, and Water Lilies 

 and other aquatics are no exceptions, though they are comparatively free. 

 Aphides (green and black) will put in an appearance, and will generally be 

 observed first on the young leaves of Nelumbiums, especially if other plants in 

 the vicinity are affected. The syringe or hose should be brought to bear on 

 them when quantities will be washed away if not killed; the plants may also be 

 dusted with tobacco dust, but this makes them very unsightly, and should 

 only be used when other means fail. Green fly and black fly have their natural 

 enemies, which after all are the best remedies; among these are the lady-birds, 

 of which there are many species, all are carnivorous, with almost insatiable 

 appetites, and very destructive to aphides. It is not so much the pretty little 

 beetles that render assistance in the extermination of the aphis as it is the un- 

 sightly dusky brown larvae; these fellows live to eat, and eat voraciously. 

 They are met with on trees, shrubs, and plants in every section, and many 

 persons not familiar with them and their mission, and believing that a bug is 

 a bug, and that all bugs deserve the same fate, without any hesitation crush 

 the life out of one of the greatest benefactors to the gardener. 



Another enemy to aphides is the lace-winged or golden-eyed fly; these 

 are equally as destructive as the lady-birds, and in this case, also, it is the 

 larvae that do the work. The perfect insect has four delicate, transparent, 

 whitish wings, netted like fine lace, bright golden eyes, and a beautiful green 

 body. While not so common as the lady-birds, they are frequently to be met. 



Other beneficial insects are the Syrphus flies, the larva of which are quite 

 blind, but the eggs are deposited in the midst of colonies of plant lice, where, 

 on hatching, the young grope about and obtain an abundance of food without 

 much trouble. All horticulturists should be familiar with these insects, and 

 avoid using insecticides anywhere within reach of them. 



