THE ANNALS 
AND 
MAGAZINE OF NATURAL HISTORY. 
[SECOND SERIES.] 
No. 4. APRIL 1848. 
XXIV. — Descriptions of By Francis Walker, F.L.S. 
Yet e*en decay and darkness have their world ! 
Nothing is lost, — nothing forsaken here : 
In dull rank weeds unnumberM hosts lie curl’d — 
Root, branch, stem, flower, have each their insect sphere ; 
E’en darkness hath its population drear ; 
Each turf impregnate with existence heaves ! — 
More countless metamorphoses appear — 
More marvels haunt our feet than thought conceives, 
While worlds of insect tribes hang quivering on the leaves. — Swam. 
La providence, en livrant I’homme a lui-meme, I’a place sous une grande 
et redoutable responsibilite. Si I’etude de I’histoire naturelle n’avoit servi 
qu’a prouver cette verite, elle auroit atteint le but le plus noble dont les 
sciences puissent s’enorgueillir, celui de tendre k ameliorer I’espece humaine 
par les exemples qu’elle nous propose. — Huber. 
This communication, instead of being introduced with remarks 
on the family of Aphides or on the authors who have noticed 
them, begins with particular observations and specific descriptions 
as a groundwork for generalities, and as a means of gradually 
unfolding the history of these insects, and of gathering matter 
for satisfactory conclusions thereon. 
First Group. 
This comprises the two following species, and is characterized 
by some parts of their structure, such as the great length of the 
nectaries and of the last joint of the feelers, by their being scat- 
tered and not clustering on their habitation, and by their three 
forms, which are — 
1. The viviparous winged female. 
The name of this form indicates one of the peculiarities of 
Aphides, nearly all other insects being oviparous, and its indivi- 
dual power of self-reproduction is a still more remarkable pro- 
perty. This continual renewal, whose period may in some cases 
Ann. ^ Mag. N. Hist. Ser. 2. Vol. i. 17 
