126 EYE SPY 



morsel, which is emptied in the same manner, and 

 his first meal would only seem to be limited by 

 the number of victims available, so insatiate is his 

 craving. In a short time he must needs move up 

 farther along the twig, and thus his swath ex- 

 tends, until within an incredibly short space of 

 time the entire swarm of aphides has disappeared, 

 leaving the field occupied alone by the larva, who 

 has perhaps now acquired his full growth by their 

 absorption — a full-fledged "aphis lion," as he is 

 called. He is now about a half-inch in length, a 

 long pointed oval in outline, the sides of its body 

 beset with bristly warts, and its head armed with 

 two long incurved teeth. But these teeth are not 

 like ordinary teeth, constructed for " chewing " or 

 biting, but rather for imbibing, and suggest the 

 two straws in the glass of the convivialist ; being 

 tubular, their open points are imbedded within 

 the juicy body of the aphis, which is soon emptied 

 to the last drop. 



The aphides are always with us. Where is the 

 lover of the rose-garden who is not painfully 

 familiar with the pests, their pale green swarms 

 completely encircling the tender shoots, and shed- 

 ding their sticky, shining "honey -dew" every- 

 where like a varnish upon the leaves and flowers 

 beneath. Hardly a plant or tree escapes their 

 parasitic attacks in one form or another, where, 

 with their beaks imbedded in the tender bark. 



