382 | General Notes. [April 
a packer at Lake Ridge one-twenty-fifth of the straws were in- 
fested, and the straw received from another locality was very 
badly injured. The matter is certainly worthy serious attention. 
Articles pa by Cook. and by Riley in the Rural New- Yorker 
some time since indicate that this pest is also increasing unduly 
in Michigan and in Ohio.— F. H. Comstock. 
Relations of Ants and Aphids.—The great benefits derived by 
ants from plant-lice have been long known. Many species of ants 
obtain a considerable proportion of their subsistence from Aphids 
and allied insects, honey-dew constituting the chief part of ‘their 
food. But in what way the plant-lice profit by this RE oe 
is probably only partially understood. The slight amount of 
protection afforded by the ants in occasionally iiie aNd 
rous insects away from colonies of Aphids can hardly be sufficient 
to account for the development of the apparatus for excreting 
honey-dew. The fact, now well known, that certain ants collect 
and preserve in their nests the eggs of Aphids during the winter, 
indicates that there are more important relations between the 
two groups of insects than appear at first sight. And this is con- 
firmed by the recent discovery by Professor Forbes that the corn 
plant-louse (Aplis maidis) is strictly dependent on an ant (Lasius 
alienus). This ant in the early spring mines along the principal 
roots of the corn, collects the wingless lice that have hibernated 
in the earth and conveys them into its burrows, and there watches 
and protects them. Experiments indicate that the plant-lice are 
unable to establish themselves upon the roots of corn without 
the aid of ants, even when i in great numbers at the base 
of the hill of corn — Z. Z. 
Sarracenia purpurea. —Dr. Riley has 
a similar species inhabits the watery liquor contained within 
the leaves of the common Northern pitcher-plant, S. purpurea. 
While taking a vacation in the pine-wood regions of Northern 
Michigan (Missaukie County) last August, I found this interest- 
ing plant very abundant in the swamps and marshes. About ten 
per cent. of the leaves contained larve that agree with the figure 
and peskan of the larva of S. sarraceniæ, but unfortunately 
was unable to rear the fly. Many of the leaves contained cir- 
cular holes, out of which some of the larvæ had doubtless 
ih to pupate. When the water contained within the leaves 
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