314 AMBBICAN FOMOLOGT. 



lice appear to poison some plants, producing warts or 

 swellings, which are sometimes solid, sometimes hollow, 

 containing within them_ a swarm of lice, descendants of a 

 single individual.* These last are often seen upon the 

 leaves of the Elm, and upon some Poplars, and other 

 1 rees ; but I have not found any upon the foliage of our 

 cultivated fruits, unless it be those on the grape. 



Aphis mali, or the Apple Leaf-louse, is a small, green 

 insect without wings, accompanied by a few black and 

 green ones having wings. These are all crowded together 

 upon the green tips of twigs, and under the leaves, suck- 

 ing the sap. The eggs remain in deep cracks of the bark 

 during the winter, and hatch as soon as the buds expand 

 in the spring. The most successful treatment is to scrape 

 off the loose bark, and to apply to the stems of the trees 

 alkaline or lime washes. Many of our familiar little win- 

 ter birds consume these eggs. In the spring and summer, 

 alkaline solutions may be used with advantage, syringed 

 or sprinkled upon the affected shoots and foliage: 



The smell of these insects is peculiar, which, indeed, is 

 generally characteristic with bugs. Each sort seems to 

 derive a special flavor from the tree or plant upon which 

 it feeds. Most insects of this family secrete copiously a 

 sweetish fluid, called the honey dew, which is ejected from 

 two little horns or nectaries, that project, one on each side 

 of their bodies. This sweet material attracts a great 

 many flies, and other insects, particularly ants, which are 

 the constant attendants of these creatures, and are said to 

 protect them from their enemies in order to obtain their 



• Hsnis' Report, p. 310. 



