Insect Study 399 



when it is finished, it looks Hke a seed pearl, round and polished. I 

 wish some child would watch an aphis-lion weave its cocoon and tell us 

 how it is done ! After a time, a week or two perhaps, a round little hole is 

 cut in the cocoon, and there issues from it a lively little green pupa, with 

 wing pads on its back ; but he very soon sheds his pupa skin and issues 

 as a beautiful lace-wing fly with golden eyes and large, filmy, iridescent, 

 pale green wings 



LESSON LXXXIX 

 The Mother Lace-wing and the Aphis-lion 



Leading thought — ^The lace-wing fly or golden-eyes, as she is called, is 

 the mother of the aphis-lion. She lays her eggs on the top of stiff, silken 

 stalks. The young aphis-lions when hatched, clamber down upon the leaf 

 and feed upon plant-lice, sucking their blood through their tubular jaws. 



Method — ^Through July and until frost, the aphis-lions may be found 

 on almost any plant infested with plant-lice ; and the lace-wing's eggs or 

 egg-shells on the long stalks are also readily found. All these may be 

 brought to the schoolroom. Place the stem of a plant infested with 

 aphids in a jar of water, and the acts of the aphis-lions as well as the 

 habits of the aphids may be observed during recess or at other convenient 

 times, by all the pupils. 



Observations — i. When you see a leaf with some white mold upon it, 

 examine it with a lens ; the mold is likely to be the eggs of the lace-wing. 

 Is the egg as large as a pin head? What is its shape? What is its color? 

 How long is the stalk on which it is placed? Of what material do you 

 think the stalk is made? Why do you suppose the lace-wing mother lays 

 her eggs on the tips of stalks? Are there any of these eggs near each 

 other on the leaf? 



2. If the egg is not empty, observe through a lens how the young 

 aphis-lion breaks its egg-shell and climbs down. 



3. Watch an aphis-lion among the plant-lice. How does it act? 

 Do the aphids seem afraid? Does the aphis-lion move rapidly? How 

 does it act when eating an aphid ? 



4. What is the general shape of the aphis-lion? Describe the jaws. 

 Do you think these jaws are used for chewing, or merely as tubes through 

 which the green blood of the aphids is sucked? Do the aphis-lions ever 

 attack each other or other insects? How does the aphis-lion dift'er in 

 appearance from the ladybird larva? 



5. W^hat happens to the aphis-lion after it gets its growth? Describe 

 its cocoon if you can find one. 



6. Describe the little lace-wing fly that comes from the cocoon. 

 Why is she called, golden-eyes? Why lace-wing? Does she fly rapidly? 

 Do you suppose that if she should lay her eggs flat on a leaf, that the first 

 aphis-lion that hatched would run about and eat all its little brothers and 

 sisters which were still in their egg-shells? How do the aphis-lions benefit 

 our rose bushes and other cultivated plants? 



Supplementary Reading — "A Tactful Mother" in Ways of the Six- 

 Footed. 



