iNSECrrs. BIS^ 



BT^eet secretion. Some entomologists have called Aphides 

 the Ants' cows. 



No one, who is acquainted with the Aphides, and the 

 various insects which prey upon them, will ever permit a 

 valuable plant to suflFer injury from these pests. He will 

 collect some of the Aphia^ enemies alive, carry them to 

 the affected plant, and set them free to do their work ; 

 there they will remain while the food lasts. The Aphides 

 have more numerous, more active, and more inveterate 

 enemies than insects of any other group — these are the 

 means by which their wonderful fecundity is kept in check; 

 Among them are the Aphis-lions, which are the larvae of 

 the Golden-eyed and Lace-wing flies, belonging to the or- 

 der Newroptera. They are reddish-brown, with a dark 

 stripe down the middle, and a cream-colored one on each 

 side; bodies long, narrow, and wrinkled transversely. 

 Their jaws are long, curved like sickles, projecting forward 

 fi'om their heads horizontally.* 



The CocoineilidcB, mentioned as usefiil members of the 

 order Coleoptera, on a previous page, are among the most 

 active enemies of the Aphides. The eggs are laid in clus- 

 ters of twenty to forty on the under side of a leaf, to 

 which they are closely glued ; they are oval, and light yel- 

 low. They hatch into small blackish larvae, which are ac- 

 tive, and which boldly attack an Aphis much larger than 

 themselves, leaving only the empty skin. They consume 

 hundreds while in the larval state, about two weeks, when 

 they attach themselves by the tail, and go into the pupa 

 state. One of the largest of these Lady-birds is the 



• For fiiTther details of these Insects, the reader Is referred to Fitch's Beport, 

 pp. 83 to 98. 



