Aphides. 



185 



Carrots and parsnips were much infested by an aphis, the 

 former being injured somewhat seriously in various market 

 garden districts and in allotment and private gardens. The 

 leaves of many of the plants became quite shrivelled, and the 

 roots were consequently stunted and deformed. The 

 mischief was generally not quite so great in the case of 

 parsnips, though in a few instances the roots were very poor 

 and ^^spindly" from the exhaustion of the leaves by the 

 aphides. Celery plants were also infested by the same aphis 

 and somewhat injured. The species of aphis found upon the 

 carrots and parsnips was that defined as Siphocoryne pasttnacece. 

 The winged viviparous female is yellowish green with a dark 

 green head and yellow legs. The wingless female is green 

 with long vasiform cornicles. The legs and the antennae 

 are short ; the rostrum is also short, club shaped towards the 

 end, and finally terminates in a sharp black point. When 

 very young the larvae are often of a light brownish hue, but 

 they soon turn to green. 



It is obviously difficult to spray carrots and parsnips, as 

 they are so full of foliage, and the leaves of carrots are often 

 close to the ground. It is not so difficult to spray celery 

 plants if a knapsack machine is used, and if this is done 

 early, with quassia and soft soap in which a little paraffin 

 is mixed, churned up w^ell together, it would also keep off 

 the celery fly, a far greater pest than the celery aphis. 

 Swedes and turnips were infested by the Aphis [Rhopalosiphum) 

 rapcB in some parts of England and Scotland. 



Aphides were abundant upon rose trees, and upon several 

 species c>f garden lilies. In the former case they were easily 

 cleared off by spraying with quassia and soap solutions, but 

 this was nearly ineffective with the lilies, as the aphides 

 were covered by the folds of the buds. 



Field and garden beans were much infested by Aphis 

 rumicis, the " Black Dolphin," and their crops in some places 

 were seriously lessened. This aphis is black in all its forms, 

 except in the very early stage, when it is brown. Little or 

 nothing can be done to check this attack in fields ; in 

 gardens it is possible to spray infested beans. 



