158 Flues [CH. 
kills the maggots. Dusting sulphur on this serves to 
keep the fly off for a short time. 
A favourite spot for maggots is behind the horns 
of rams. They may be kept off by means of olive oil 
and pitch oil dusted over with sulphur. 
CHAPTER XII 
APHIDES AND SAWFLIES 
There are a large number of different kinds of 
Aphides, or, as they are usually called, Plant Lice, or 
Green Fly or Blight, and in favourable circumstances, 
such as a hot dry summer, they are present in enormous 
numbers. They attack practically all cultivated plants 
—usually the leaves and stems but sometimes also the 
roots. They belong to the same group of insects as 
bugs, and live in a similar way by sucking the 
juices of plants after piercing them with their mouth 
appendages, which are well suited for the purpose. 
They differ considerably from the majority of insects 
in their methods of reproduction. They have no 
complete metamorphosis in which there is a resting 
stage, and only in special cases do they lay eggs. 
The life history of a typical aphis will help us to 
understand them. 
We will start with those found in spring. These 
are without wings (see Fig. 48) and are all females. 
Each one gives birth to a varying number of young. 
