HABITS OF THE APHID^. 



143 



ther fly nor run sufficiently fast to avoid danger : they 

 seem never to make use of their wings, but for the pur- 

 pose of finally leaving the little society in which they 

 were born, and establishing for themselves a distinct 

 colony ; while the feet, although perfect, are remarkably 

 slender, and only enable the animal to walk very slow. 

 (133.) The honey-dew, according to the observations 

 of the late Mr. Curtis, is chiefly, if not entirely, occa- 

 sioned by these insects. " Were a person," observes our 

 ingenious author, '^ to take up a book in which it was 

 gravely asserted that in some countries there were certain 

 animals which voided liquid sugar, he would soon lay 

 it down, regarding it as a fabulous tale, calculated to 

 impose on the credulity of the ignorant; and yet such 

 is literally the truth. The superior size of the Aphis 

 Salicis, or willow plant-sucker, will enable the most in- 

 credulous observer to satisfy himself on this head. On 

 looking stedfastly for a few minutes on a group of these 

 insects, while feeding on the bark of the willow, a few 

 of them will be perceived to elevate their bodies, and a 

 transparent substance evidently drop from them; which 

 is immediately followed by a similar motion, and a dis- 

 charge like a small shower, from a great number of 

 others. On placing a piece of writing paper under a 

 mass of these insects, it soon became thickly spotted ; 

 holding it a longer time, the spots became united from 

 the addition of others, and the whole surface assumed a 

 glossy appearance. I tasted it, and found it as sweet as 

 sugar. I had the less hesitation in doing this, having 

 observed that wasps, flies, ants, and insects without 

 number, devoured it as quickly as it was produced. In 

 the height of summer, when the weather is hot and 

 dry, and the Aphides are most abundant, the foliage of 

 the trees and plants upon which they reside, is found 

 covered by this substance, generally known by the name 

 of honey-dew." After combating the opinions that this 

 was either exuded from the plants, or had fallen from 

 the atmosphere, Mr. Curtis observes: — " As far as my 

 own observation has extended, there never exists any 



