REPORT OF THE ENTOMOLOGIST. 193 



Saunders speaks of this insect as follows in his work entitled " In- 

 sects Injurious to Fruits:" " The apple root plant louse is believed by 

 some entomologists to be a native insect, while others hold to the 

 opinion that it has been imported from Europe. It is nourished by 

 sucking the juices of the tree, piercing the tender roots with its pro- 

 boscis. In the very young lice this instrument, when at rest and 

 folded under the abdomen, is longer than the body, but in the mature 

 specimens it is only about two-thirds the length of the body. While 

 it usually confines itself to the roots of trees, it is sometimes found on 

 the suckers that spring up around them, and sometimes also about the 

 stump of an amputated branch, but in every instance it may be recog- 

 nized by the bluish-white cottony matter with which its body is cov- 

 ered. If this cottony covering be forcibly removed, it will be found 

 that in two or three days the insect will have again produced suffi- 

 cient to envelope itself completely. Occasionally the mature lice 

 crawl up the branches of the trees during the summer, where they also 

 form colonies, and then are known as the Woolly Aphis of the apple." 

 In speaking of this form of the louse now under consideration the 

 same author says : " They are often found about the base of twigs 

 or suckers springing from the trunk, and also about the base of 

 the trunk itself, and around recent wounds in the bark. In autumn 

 they commonly affect the axils of the leaf stalks, towards the ends of 

 twigs, and sometimes multiply to such an extent as to cover the whole 

 under surface of the limbs and also of the trunk, the tree looking as 

 though whitewashed. They are said to affect most those trees which 

 yield sweet fruit. This woolly louse is very common in Europe, es- 

 pecially in Germany, the north of France, and England, where it is 

 more destructive than in this country, and, although generally known 

 there under the name of the "American blight," it is believed to be 

 indigenous to Europe, and to have been originally brought from Eu- 

 rope to America. It appears to thrive only in comparatively cold 

 climates, and in this country occurs in this [above ground] jform most 

 abundantly in the New England states. 



" Under each of the little patches of down there is usually found 

 one large female with her young. When fully grown the female is 

 nearly one-tenth of an inch long, oval in form, with black head and 

 feet, dusky legs and antennae, and yellowish abdomen. She is cov- 

 ered with a white mealy powder, and has a tuft of white down grow- 

 . 13 



