THE APHIS 375 



of its body, but simply remains near them, and protects them 

 from enemies. 



Even though the earwig does damage our flowers, we must at 

 least admit that it is a good and faithful mother. And, perhaps, 

 now that we have learnt something about it, we shall look at it 

 with a little less fear and more interest than we have felt before. 



RHYNCHOTA 



This order contains many beautifully-coloured insects, and a 

 great number of well-known forms. It includes bugs, the water- 

 boatman, the pond-skater, the water-scorpion, the cochineal insect, 

 the destructive vine pest (the phylloxera), and others. 



THE APHIS (Family APHlDlDiE) 



If we examine a rose-bush at almost any time in the spring or 

 summer, we may find on the buds and the young shoots a great 

 number of very small insects. These often exist in such vast 

 numbers that they completely hide the younger portions of the 

 plant. 



They are of different sizes and of different colours. Some are 

 nearly as large as grains of corn ; some are so small that you can 

 scarcely see them. Some are light-green, others dark-green ; some 

 pink, and others almost red. But they all have long horns, soft 

 bodies, and very long, slender legs. And some, but not all, have 

 transparent gauzy wings as well, over which all the colours of the 

 rainbow seem to play in turn. 



Although these tiny insects look so very different, they are 

 really all the same, some being more "grown up", so to speak, 

 than others. They are known by several names. Farmers, for 

 example, mostly call them the "green fly", and dislike them because 

 they do so much harm to hops, corn, turnips, beans, and many other 

 plants which are grown for food. 



