176 THE BOOK OP THE ROSE chap. 



eggs of moths and butterflies, or in, or on, the 

 bodies of caterpillars and grubs, and thus destroy 

 them. They are of all sizes, some very small, and 

 of so many species that almost every insect has a 

 parasite of this class specially belonging to it. On 

 shoots where aphides have been some time, some 

 may appear to have become solidified, and changed 

 in colour to a light brown. These are aphides which 

 have been pierced by tiny ichneumon flies, whose 

 eggs have hatched in their interior : a magnifying 

 glass will often show a hole in the body from which 

 the new-born fly has emerged. These brown trans- 

 mogrified aphides are therefore foes transformed 

 into friends — an effort of Nature to assist the negli- 

 gent Rosarian in dealing with the aphis host. There 

 is no need to allude further to the ichneumon flies, 

 for only the perfect insects are generally seen, and 

 these are not likely to be destroyed, nor, as far as I 

 know, capable of being increased. 



The well-known lady-bird (Coccinellm) in its larva 

 state feeds upon aphides, but I am bound to say 

 that it is not common enough to do much good. 

 You must have a lot of green fly before the prudent 

 ladybird will lay her eggs on the shoot among them, 

 and the careful Rosarian will hope to see nothing 

 of one or the other. Still the shape of the larva, 

 quite unlike that of a Rose-eating grub, and sug- 

 gesting the perfect insect by its spots, should be 

 noted, that this small family of friends may be 

 saved from the general massacre. 



A bee-like looking insect (Syrphus) also subsists 

 in the grub state upon aphides. This creature is 

 very apt to be summarily squashed as an enemy 

 instead of being protected as a friend. It may be 



