FORESt - Aj^TD - STftEAM. 
40; 
An Outing m Acadia.— 1. 
BY EDWARD A. SAMUELS. 
That glorious stretch of country midway between 
Annapolis and Liverpool in Nova Scotia is a favorite 
region among the lovers of the rod and gun who have 
become acquainted with its many attractions. It con- 
tains almost innumerable lakes and streams which teem 
with the spotted trout, and in its extensive coverts great 
numbers or ruffed grouse, woodcock and hares are found. 
In the wilderness, away from the small settlements 
which are scattered along the post road, moose are 
Uiirly abundant, and many handsome pairs of antlers 
have been broug;ht awsy as trophies by American sports- 
uien. 
Among the lakes the scenery is picturesque in the 
extreme, and the beauties of Rosignol, Cedgemacougie 
and the Fairy Lakes have been limned by many eminent 
artists. 
So abundant are the grouse in this region that almost 
every copse of young birches, maples and alders con- 
tains a covey, and they are also often seen in the grain 
and potato fields of the settlers, where they run about 
as unsuspicious of danger as so many domestic chickens, 
The byroads around Kempt and Maitland seem to be 
favorite habitats of these birds, it being a common oc- 
currence to see them perched on fence rails along the 
loadw^ay, from which they will not fly, even if a whip 
from a passing carriage is snapped at them. 
In addition to the moose, the other large game are 
black bears (which are too plentiful for the farmers), 
the Canada lynx and the red fox. The caribou was 
formerly abundant, but is now, I think, never met with 
so far south in the province. 
For many years I have enjoyed my outings in this 
favored section, and it was on one of theise that the fol- 
lowing incidents occurred: 
I had arrived at the cozy farmhouse in one of the little 
settlements which I usually made my headquarters on 
the second day of my journey from Boston, and after a 
good night's rest, which T thoroughly appreciated after 
my long ride of thirty miles over rough and mountain- 
ous roads, had started out bright and early on the follow- 
ing morning with rod and creel, and accompanied bv 
John Mack, my trusty guide and canoeman, for a day's 
sport among the spotted beauties. 
My forenoon's success had been most satisfactory, and 
we had landed from our canoe on a wooded point which 
jutted out into the lake for our midday lunch. Our meal 
had been eaten with true sportsmen's relish, the trout, 
which the guide had broiled on a primitive gridiron, made 
of interlaced green twigs of the birch and maple, over a 
bed of coals, having proved a grateful addition to the 
menu. I had stretched myself upon a soft mass of 
leaves and moss beneath the dense shade of a venerable 
beech tree, in which comfortable position I was en- 
joying my after-dinner smoke, when a number of small 
greenish insects drifted down upon me and began to 
crawl over my hands and clothes. 
"What a swarm of pesky plant lice there is around us!" 
exclaimed the guide, who was brushing some of the 
mtruders from his neck and face, as he lay on the ground 
near me. "There must be a big family of them in the 
neighborhood." 
"No doubt," I replied. "These insects are among the 
mo^t prolific of breeders, and large colonies are quickly 
established wherever a nucleus is formed." 
The insects were of a light green color, and most of 
them were wingless; they were aphides, and had prob- 
ably been disturbed by the smoke of our camp-fire, which 
had ascended among the foliage upon which thev were 
foraging. 
_ They soon ceased to annoy us, and the guide, re- 
filling his pipe and lighting it, resumed his recumbent 
position for a quiet siesta. 
My interest in the aphides had been awakened, how- 
ever, and in a short time I arose and began to search 
among the young alders which surrounded us for an 
opportunity to study the little pests in their own abiding 
places. I use the term freely, for terrible pests they are 
to farmers and fruit-growers, their attacks on all kinds 
of vegetation being very destructive. 
A little clump of white birch saplings near at hand soon 
gave me a good opportunity to study the insects, and 
with my pocket magnifying glass in readiness I watched 
their movements intently. There were many hundreds 
of them sucking the sap from the foliage and the 
tender bark of the young trees, their sizes varying from 
the smallest mites but recently hatched to the adult in- 
sects. Most of them were wingless, a few only being 
provided with organs of flight. 
Through the glass I watched them as they drew out 
the sap or wandered leisurely about on the bark. They 
were sociable among themselves, a score or more gather- 
ing in a bunch or huddling around a number of adult 
insects. 
Presently a number of ants which had been suspicious 
of my intentions and had kept away made their ascent 
of the trunk of the small tree near which I was stand- 
ing, and after inspecting me for a few moments, to make 
c:-rtain I was not an enemy, they proceeded to some 
f>f the plumpest aphides and began to tickle them on 
the end of their abdomens, using their antenna, or so- 
called "feelers," which extend in front of their heads 
for this purpose. 
The little green insects did not seem to object to the 
tinllation, for they quickly raided their bodies, and the 
ants, putting their mouths to the tubes which led from 
The ends of the abdomens of the aphides, received a 
drop of honey which exuded from them. 
Like little cows, the insects seemed quite willing to 
be "milked." and the ants filled themselves to repletion. 
I had witnessed this interesting performance before 
on several occasions, but had never been favored with 
such an abundance of specimens to study. The smaller 
aphides seemed instinctively to vield their modicum of 
honey, for their raised their little bodies as soon as .an 
art touched them. 
This action of toilkittg the aphides by the ants was 
first observed by a naturalist named Huber, who made 
many interesting expe,nments with them and published 
a lengthy account of his investigations. 
Darwin, to test the accuracy of Huber's statements, 
experimented with a number of the aphides in a most 
careful manner. On one occasion he removed all the 
ants from a group of about a dozen aphides on a plant 
and kept them away for several hours; alter this inter- 
val he felt sure that the insects would excrete. For 
some time he watched them through a lens, but none of 
them excreted. He then tickled and stroked them with 
a hair in the same manner — as well as he could — as ttie 
ants do with their antenna:, but he met with no success. 
He subsequently allowed an ant to visit thein, and it 
immediately seemed, by its eager way ot running about, 
to be well aware what a rich tlock it had discovered. It 
then began to play with its antenrta; on the abdomen 
first of one aphis and then another, and each as soon 
as it felt the attennie immediately lilted up Us abdomen 
and excreted a limpid drop of sweet juice, which was 
eagerly devoured by the ant. 
Darwin, in commentmg nnally on these faets, says, 
"It is certain from the observations of Huber that the 
aphides show no dislike to the ants; if the latter be not 
present they are at last compelled to eject their excretion. 
But as the excretion is extremely viscid, it is no doubt 
a convenience to the aphides to have it removed; there- 
fore probably they do not excrete solely for the good 
of the ants." 
The aphides which were at work before me did not 
probably inflict any great injury upon the birches, al- 
though I have seen young trees fairly blighted by these 
insects. But there are some species which are terribly 
destructive. One, called the cotton louse or aphis, works 
sad havoc among the cotton plants. Another species 
attacks the wheat plant; another the oat, and others 
various garden plants. In fact, almost every plant 
has a variety peculiar to itself, and some have more 
than one species, and were it not for their numerous 
enemies they would be an insufferable pest. 
Although we accept as a truism that nothing in nature 
was created in vain, we are very often at a loss to de- 
termine the economic value that certain forms of life 
possess. We study them closely, but fail to establish 
their utility, and often finally consider them as worthless, 
if not absolutely noxious. Among these are the aphides, 
which are regarded as being simply noxious without a 
single redeeming trait. 
To the naturalist, however, their many peculiarities 
always furnish subjects for study, and among these their 
methods of reproduction are the most interesting, for, 
unlike other insects, the aphis does not pass through 
all the metamorphoses or changes before they become 
perfect or adult insects. For example, an insect ordi- 
narily lays its eggs from which the grubs or caterpillars, 
called larviE, are hatched. After a stated time these 
change their form and assume the next or pupa stage 
of their existence. In this they remain for a greater 
or less period of time, when they change to the imago or 
perfect insect stage. For instance: A moth lays her 
eggs, from which the caterpillars are hatched; these 
are of course at first very small, but they eat voraciously 
and grow rapidly until finally they spin cocoons, incased 
in which as pupas they remain motionless and without 
feeding. At the proper time the form changes, the 
imago shape is assumed, and the moth crawls out of its 
silky covering, which it dissolves with a fluid secretion, 
which acts on the silky fibers like an acid. 
Unlike the other insects, the aphis does not seem to 
go through all these changes, for at one period of the 
year it is found to be oviparous, and at another vivip- 
arous. It has also most remarkable powers of fe- 
cundity, it having been estimated that one aphis may in 
five generations be the progenitor of upward of six 
billions of descendants, and, as has been stated, there 
may be twenty generations in a single year. Another ■ 
curious fact telating to these interesting little insects is 
WINGED APE[.TS> MUCH ENLARGED. 
that the wingless larvse when hatched in the spring may 
produce a number of broods even while in that stage. 
With such remarkable powers of reproduction the 
aphides would become a terrible pest if nature did not 
provide many enemies to keep their numbers in check. 
Myriads are eaten by titmice and other small birds; the 
little round, spotted beetle, known as the "lady bird," de- 
vours them by thousands, in fact almost entirely sub- 
sists upon them, and several small ichneumon flies de- 
posit their eggs in their bodies. These little parasites are 
very industrious, and they lose no opportunity to accom- 
plish their work. The ants instinctively recognize them 
as enemies of their "milch cows," and make every effort 
to drive them away. 
Probably the most active and relentless enemies of 
the tribe are the so-called lace-wing flies, which feed 
almost exclusively on the aphides. Their eggs, ac- 
cording to the entomologist, Mr. F. G. Sanborn," who 
was a most patient investigator, are laid on twigs or 
leaves where the aphides are abundant, and to prevent 
the eggs being covered with the exudations of the 
aphides and suffocated or devoured by small predacious' 
insects, they are fastened at the top of a small pedicle or 
stalk spun from the abdomen of the parent like the 
thread of a spider. 
tACE WING FLY AND EGGS. 
The young hatched from these eggs are of an elongated 
form, with sharp sickle-like jaws, with which thev p-'erce 
the tender bodies of the aphides and suck their juices; 
they are very voracious and destroy a vast number of 
the pests. 
I had consumed more time in watching the aphides' 
than I was aware of, and found on consulting my watch 
that the afternoon was tar advanced, i hastened to die 
spot where we had eaten our lunch and found that the 
guide had gathered up the d.shes and other iienis of the 
lunching outiiL and p.aced tlicm in the eauoe. and was 
awaiting, patiently, for my coming. He made no ccm- 
ment on niy long absence, for he knew my way., ot r.jd, 
and in a very short tmie our light craft was on its way 
to the Spring Hole brook, impelled by our sturdy paddles, 
which we w.eided .with all the vigor, if not the grace, of 
trained athletes. 
I doubt very much If there is a drop of aborigine blood 
m my veins, but if I were descended from a long and 
unbroken line of red men I could not have a greater love 
for the canoe than 1 now possess, and nothing can j^ive 
me a greater pleasure than that which I derive fron/lhe 
use of the paddle. It is an ideal exercise and sport, and 
the movement of the canoe over the placid surface of 
the lake is the poe.ry of motion, and the delights tiiat 
accompany it. the blue sky above us; the gentle, balmy, 
perfume-laden breeze; the blue and purple mountains on 
LARVA OF LACE WING FLY^ ENLARGED. 
the* distant shores, all combine to make what is to me 
a periect enjoyment, Ihe pool that I have mentioned 
was soon reached; it was a broad, deep arm of the river, 
and near its head was evidently a large spring, for the 
water was very clear and apparently cold. 
Ihe kdlick was soon aropped and I began casting, 
i he sport that followed was very exciting, the tiuut 
coming to the flies in numbers, at almost every cast a 
pair being hooked, and John was kept busy in lauding 
the hsh and in packing them in some wet ferns and o )oi 
swamp moss which he had placed in the stern of the 
canoe. The fish, however, were not large, their average 
weight being not over half a pound. 
For a short time the trout ceased to rise, and pushing 
the canoe ashore we lighted our pipes and rested the 
pool for a brief period. John busied himself in dressing 
and packing the fish while I sat on the bank of the stream 
and watched the numerous insects which disported them- 
selves on the surface of the water. 
The whiriigig beetles were most abundant, their ridicu- 
WHIRHCIG BEETLE. 
lous half tipsy way of darting around in a circle making 
them appear much more numerous than they really were. 
The insects may be seen on almost every fresh water 
stream or pond, and their curious antics have, no doubt, 
attracted the attention of every angler and canoeist. They 
belong to the family of water beetles called the Cvrinidce, 
trom gyros, signifying a circle, the name being gi/c"! 
them because of their habit of gliding madly round and 
round on the water. They are insectivorous in their 
habits, but as they feed chiefly on other water insects 
or aquatic plants, which are of no value, they are of but 
little importance in the economy of Nature. 
They occasionally migrate from one body of water to 
another, generally at night, and they are often attracted 
by the lights in dwelling houses. 
There is a much larger water beetle called the Dytisais, 
and its habits are far less innocent than are those of tlie 
WATER BEETLES {DytisCUs). 
whiriigigs. It is of^en called the water tiger on account 
of Its savage attacks on other aquatic insects. In fact, it 
sometimes attacks tadpoles and even small fishes. It is 
very voracious, and will feed on any living thing it can 
conquer. 
These beetles often take wing, particulariy at night, and 
fly well. The Dyhxcida receive their name from the 
Greek word dytes, which means a diver. 
The-r larvje are long and cylindrical, and their large 
fiat heads are armed with scissor-like jaws, which they 
use, with fatal effect on their victims. 
Take itwevtorj; of the good things in this issue 
of Forest and Stream. Recall tvhal a fuittl was 
given last week. Count on what is to come uexl 
week. Was there ever in all the world a more 
abundant weekly, store of sportsmen's reading? 
