306 DIVISION III. ARTICULATED ANIMALS. —CLASS IV. INSECTA. 
which were at some distance from the ants, squirted it out with a movement 
resembling a kick. 
“How did it happen, then, that the ants wandering about on the thistle 
were nearly all remarkable for the size of their abdomens, and were evi- 
dently full of some liquid? This I discovered by narrowly watching one 
ant, whose proceeding I am going to describe minutely. I saw it at first 
passing, without stopping, over some Plant Lice, which did not seem in the 
least disturbed by its walking over them; but it soon stopped close to one 
of the smallest, which it seemed to coax with its antennw, touching the 
extremity of its abdomen very rapidly, first with one of its antennx, and 
then with the other. I saw with surprise the liquid come out of the body 
of the Plant Louse, and the ant forthwith seize upon the droplet, and con- 
vey it to its mouth. It then brought its antennw to bear upon another 
Plant Louse much larger than the first: this one, caressed in the same man- 
ner, yielded the nourishing fluid from its body in a much larger dose. The 
ant advanced and took possession of it. It then passed to a third, which it 
cajoled as it had the preceding ones, giving it many little strokes with its 
antennx near the hinder extremity of the body; the liquid came out imme- 
diately, and the ant picked it up. A small number of these repasts are 
sufficient to satisfy the ant’s appetite. 
“Tt does not appear that it is out of importunity that these insects obtain 
their nourishment from the Plant Louse. 
“The neighborhood of ants is agreeable to Plant Lice ; since those which 
could get out of the way of their visits, viz., the Winged Plant Lice, prefer 
to remain amongst them, and to lavish upon them the superabundance of 
their nourishment.” 
The third family of the Homopterous Hemiptera (Gallinsecta) is com- 
posed of the genus 
Cocus. — Seale Insects. The males are destitute of a proboscis, and 
have only two wings, which shut horizontally upon the body. The females 
are without wings, but are furnished with a proboscis. Many of the spe- 
cies are very injurious to trees, puncturing the bark, and causing a too 
abundant overflowing of the sap, which occasions those warty appearances 
which are often seen on many kinds of trees. Several of the species are 
valuable in a commercial point of view. An East Indian species produces 
the gum @ac, and another is employed in China for the manufacture of wax 
tapers. 
C. Ilicts lives on a small oak in the south of Europe, and was formerly 
used as a dye; it is still employed in medicine. 
C’. Polonicus, found in Poland, lives upon the roots of the scleranthus 
perennis, and was also once valued for its coloring qualities. 
