nONEY-DEW IGl 



Everybody Icnows tho aphides well by aipflit, in ono of 

 their forma at least, tho famihar rose aphis ; l)iit pr()l)ahly 

 few people ever look at tliem closely and critically enough 

 to observe how very beautiful and wonderful is the or<,'!inisa- 

 tion of tlieir tiny limbs in all its extiuisito detail. If you 

 pick off ono good-si/ed win.tjflcss insect, however, from a 

 bli<,dited rose-leaf, and put him on a ^dass shde under alow 

 power of tho microscope, you will mosf likely be quite sur- 

 prised to find what a lovely little creature it is tiiat you 

 have been poisoning wholesale all your life; long with 

 diluted tobacco-juice. His body is so transparent that you 

 can see through it by transmitted light : a dainty ghiss 

 globe, you would say, of emerald green, set upon six 

 tapering, jointed, hairy legs, and provided in front with 

 two large black eyes of many facets, and a pair of long 

 and very flexible antenna^, easily moved in any direction, 

 but usually bent backward when the creature is at rest so 

 as to reach nearly to his tail as ho stands at ease; upon liis 

 native rose-leaf. There are, however, two other features 

 about him which s])ecially attract attention, as being very 

 characteristic of tho aphides and their allies among all 

 other insects. In the first place, his mouth is provided 

 with a very long snout or proboscis, classically described as 

 a rostrum, with which ho pierces the outer skin of the rose- 

 shoot where he lives, and sucks up incessantly its sweet 

 juices. This organ is connnon to the aphis with all the 

 other bugs and plant-lice. In the second place, ho has 

 half-way down his back (or a little more) a pair of very 

 peculiar hollow organs, the honey tubes, from which exudes 

 that singular secretion, the honey-dew. These tubes are 

 not found in quite all species of aphides, but they are very 

 common among the class, and they form by far the mosl; 

 conspicuous and interesting organs in all those aphides 

 which do possess them. 



