I 860 .] 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
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ered with a light white down. I had specimens 
successfully reared thus far, when I was unfortu¬ 
nately confined to my room by sickness. When 
I next paid them a visit, they had obtained their 
wings, had flown, and been speedily entrapped by 
a fine spider, an Epeira fas data, which I had al¬ 
lowed to construct her nest on the branch. The 
web was charmingly spangled with their wings, 
but she had left me no specimen to reward my 
labors. It is only at this time they deposit eggs 
is. the cottony envelope which is secured around 
them and to the branch by a yellow, glutinous 
fluid. Wherever this fiber is seen, the bark 
should be thoroughly scraped, and a piece of com¬ 
mon yellow soap be thickly rubbed upon the 
branches. If any eggs remain, the young can 
not penetrate the soap, and they must die 
Fig. 2—Poplar Aphis. 
The specimen illustrated in fig. 2 is the “ Erio - 
soma populi,” or Aphis of the Poplar, to which 
tree it naturally belongs. But I have found it on 
the pear tree several years in succession, and it 
will increase as rapidly as the apple blight. It is 
now seen at the West and in the Middle States, 
more than at the East, but they are liable to be 
increased by every wind that blows. Small white 
balls of cotton are seen floating through the air. 
Fig. 3 —BANANA APHIS —Aphis Sapientium. 
f, The Aphis magnified, the short line above shows the 
natural length— e. One of the Antenna. 
Catch one and open it, and you will perceive this 
long-legged aphis, in a soft, white mantle, emigrat¬ 
ing to a new home. Nothing is perceptible but 
her long antennae and part of her head. When 
safely landed upon a leaf, she perforates the mid¬ 
dle vein; the sap exuding and coming in contact 
•’ith the air, thickens, and becomes viscid, until a 
vail is formed, and a small chamber, as if by 
magic, rises around her, which she never leaves 
again There she brings forth her young, who 
enlarge their home until their changes are com¬ 
pleted, and they too emigrate ; thus they spread 
rapidly. Their chamber has two outlets, one of 
which is usually closed to keep'out the Syrphi 
and other insects that prey upon the Aphides. 
The infested leaves turn yellow and fall off, and 
a few years’ repetition of this will kill the tree. 
Fig. 3—Banana Aphis—A Caution. 
The singular looking creature at /, fig. 3, is 
represented here by way of caution. It is the 
Aphis of the Banana. It is propagated easily on 
the quince, and without great care to destroy the 
skins and stalks of the banana, in time, another 
enemy will be added to our already enormous 
catalogue of fruit destroyers. When not suck¬ 
ing, it keeps its beak thrust under its body, which 
causes it to resemble a tail protruding from its 
abdomen. It is very dark and small, and is gen¬ 
erally hid under the roughest and oldest part of the 
main stalk of the fruit, so as to elude observation. 
Fig. 4 —Currant Aphis, and Grape-vine Aphis. 
The ravages of one of the Aphis family are 
easily observed on the currant hush. Red and 
yellow protuberances appear on the leaves ; turn 
one of these over, and they will prove to be 
chambers in which are closely packed hundreds 
ot the “Aphis ribis ” (Currant Aphis,) in every 
Fig. 4-CURRANT BUSH APHIS- 
Aphis Ribis. Aisolin* GRAPE VINE APHIS— Aphis Vinifera. 
a, A leaf with I he cells or chambers of the insects— b, The perfect Currant Aphis, (the short line under the insect 
shows the natural length)—c, The perfect Grape vine Aphis—d. Young of the Grape vine Aphis. 
stage of growth up to the winged insect. These 
are shown at a, fig. 4. If the first infected leaf 
had been plucked, they could have been kept in 
subjection, but by their rapid increase, the bushes 
soon loose their green verdure, and the crop of 
currants is diminished at least a third, by the loss 
of the nourishment abstracted by these de¬ 
structive little creatures. 
The Aphis Vinifera, (Grape-vine Aphis), e, fig. 
4, is equally destructive, puncturing the leaves, 
and causing the young grapes to harden, dry up, 
and turn black. Their habits and changes are the 
same as those of the Aphis Rosae, (described on 
page 80,) except that the eggs are deposited close 
down in the joints of the vine. They are imper¬ 
ceptible without a magnifier, but can be kept un¬ 
der control by rubbing the joints with common 
hard soap in the Fall after they have disappeared. 
Fig. 5—Oak Aphis. 
The last one here shown, “Aphis Quereus” (Oak 
Aphis), e, fig. 5, is a singularly ugly creature, the 
Fig. 5.—OAK APHIS —Aphis Quereus 
e, Aphis highly magnified—A The Aphis at rest with 
the beak under its body. (The short mark shows its na¬ 
tural length.) 
largest I believe of known Aphides. On a large 
scale he would be truly terrific. You can scarce¬ 
ly see an oak leaf in Summer, but a dozen or 
more of these pigmy monsters are hard at work 
upon it with their strong beaks, which are used 
in a very curious manner. The insect crouches 
down on his awkward, ungainly legs, and inserts 
the sucker lengthwise into the vein instead of down 
into it. When they walk, which is seldom, they 
totter sluggishly along, carrying that long sucker 
bent under the body, giving it a resemblance to a 
tail. Their changes are the same as those al¬ 
ready described. They are pale green when 
young, afterwards becoming deep brown, with a 
lighter shade on the legs and beak. They vary in 
color with the age and health of the tree. I 
have seen them dark red, and of a golden yellow 
hue. They are most numerous in dense woods 
away from the sea-board, where they make sad 
havoc upon the young oaks. 
Every tree of the forest, every bush, flower, 
and weed, has its life suckers always at work to 
keep down redundant vegetation. I have no 
doubt that the brilliancy and beauty of our Au¬ 
tumnal woods are owing, in a great measure, to 
these little creatures throwing out the acids from 
their bodies, which, coming in contact with the san 
when the cold arrests its circulation, changes the 
green color of the leaf, and thus paints for us a 
scene more gorgeous than artist ever imagined. 
In observing these little creatures, there is great 
pleasure afforded by the assurance given of the 
watchfulness and beneficence of a Supreme 
Power ever present around us. It seems impos¬ 
sible for one to contemplate these mere atoms, on 
a warm Summer’s day reveling, gamboling, roll¬ 
ing over each other, kicking out their thread-like 
legs while they hang suspended in the air only bv 
their beaks, and sprawling with deligtit, in the 
sun’s beams—without feeling conscious that He 
who made them and us, intends happiness to all. 
For the American Agriculturist. 
A Fight with Red Spiders.— Acarus telarius. 
Long and determined has been the conflict. I 
have fought him with water thrown in fierce and 
copious jet, through pipe and syringe. I have 
battled him with brimstone, and have pursued him 
with solutions of whale-oil soap and nux vomica. 
I have applied lime and white lead in his lurking 
places. I have been early and late on his track. 
Have steamed him and submerged him in pools 
of water, nay I have buried him along with the 
plants which he most did love, for a week at 
a time, and kept the earth (his grave as I fondlj 
hoped) saturated with water. I nearly killed the 
plant, but not the spider. The plant was washed 
clean after its resurrection and kept away from 
all its fellows. In about a week afterward, the 
flame colored wretches were feasting on the vi¬ 
tals of the devoted bush again, as hearty as ever 
