Currant Aphides. 



are formed ; the egg-laying female, after being fertilised, 

 depositing her few brown elongated eggs on the last year's 

 growth of a twig just under the broken rind or upon it. 

 Here the eggs remain all the winter. During the present 

 winter they may be seen in great numbers on the currant 

 bushes. A number of the winged females seem to leave the 

 bushes at the end of July, but some always remain. This 

 aphis, besides feeding on the red, black, and white currant, 

 also attacks the gooseberry, and it has been found in the 

 Guelder rose {Viburnum oftuhis), the nipple wort {Lapsana 

 vulgaris), and the sow thistle (Sonchus). 



(II.) Myzus ribis. Linn. — This plant-louse can easily be told 

 from the former by its olive, not black, head, and its black 

 cornicles and irregularly black ornamented abdomen in the 

 winged female. It occurs from April to August, especially 

 in the black currant and gooseberry, but also on the red 

 currant ; it is said to cause blisters similar to those shown 

 in Figure I. It often causes the leaves at the apex of the 

 shoots to curl and twist up, and has been noticed to deform 

 the shoots more often than the former species. Lintner also 

 refers to it as contorting the leaves. It is apparently the 

 Rhopaloslphum rib is of Koch. 



The apterous or wingless female, which appears in the 

 spring, is shiny yellowish green, with dark green mottlings,. 

 elongated oval in form, and with curious capitate hairs in 

 front ; the cornicles and legs are pale green, and the eyes 

 reddish. The lice or larvae are pale green. When the leaves lose 

 their sap the larvae turn to pupae, and then 10 winged femalec. 

 The pupa of this species is shiny yellowish-green, with two 

 horny spots on the occiput. The winged viviparous female 

 is bright green, with pale olive head, brown thorax with an 

 olive band across the prothorax, irregular transverse bands 

 and spots on the abdomen, and four or five dark lateral 

 spots; the deep olive green to black cornicles are cylindrical 

 in form, and the deep green legs have olive tarsi. The eyes 

 are again red in colour in the larvae. Towards July many 

 leave the currants, but as in the former species some always 

 remain, and give rise to viviparous females and males, the 

 former depositing their long brown eggs under the exfoliated 



