123 
their place of confinement, have the wings apparently horizonatal or 
nearly so, but they soon assume the normal, erect position, if the in¬ 
sects are allowed free exercise in the ooen air. I have observed this 
i 
habit in the species that inhabits the cockscomb gall of the elm. The 
antennte are usually six-jointed, but in one genus which I have intro¬ 
duced into this sub-family, they are but five-jointed. Serville and 
Amyot (Hist, de Hemip .), or the authors they follow, have made a 
singular mistake in reference to the number of joints in these insects, 
in giving the characters of their Myzoxylides. which includes the sub¬ 
family now under consideration. They state that these organs con¬ 
tain but five joints, the second being the longest. It is evident they 
overlooked one of the two small basal joints. The third joint is the 
longest, as is the general and almost universal rule throughout the 
family. These organs are short, seldom reaching beyond the middle 
of the body, and often extending no farther than the middle of the 
thorax. 
Some of the species reside upon the bark of .the trunk and branches 
of trees, others on the leaves of various plants; some have the habit 
of covering themselves with a cottony secretion, while others, by a 
singular provision of nature formd, galls in which they reside. 
This white, cottony substance is secreted by certain glandular or¬ 
gans in the abdomen and thorax, with which the species that produce 
it areprovided. Its production is not confined to thisfamily, the Beech- 
aphis of the preceding family producing it in threads as long as its 
body; nor is it an uncommon occurrence among the Chermesinoe. 
This substance, which bears some analogy to silk, if examined by 
a high magnifying power, will be found to consist of long, flattened 
threads or fibres, which when broken across present sharp fractures as 
if they were brittle, and, according to Buckton, from whose work this 
statement is taken, they present obscure transverse and longitudinal 
striations. 
The same author states that this material is insoluble in water, 
alcohol and solution of potash; that it scorches brown over the lamp 
without melting; and gives off at the same time a nitrogenous odor 
like burnt feathers. He concludes therefore that it is a different sub¬ 
stance from the waxy secretion of many other llomopterous insects. 
That the substance resembling cotton found covering such species 
as the Wooly Aphis of the Apple-tree is not of a waxy nature, and 
is insoluble in water and alcohol I know to be true by experiment, 
and that it will not dissolve like wax by heat I also am aware is true. 
But that some .species at least of Pemphigus do secrete a waxy sub¬ 
stance that will dissolve on being submitted to the heat of the hand 
I think is also true. In one instance at least I have observed this to 
be the case. But in this instance the secretion took that peculiar form 
seen in other llomopterous insects of which Mr. Bucton speaks. I am 
also inclined to think the same thing is true in reference to one at 
least of the species infesting pine leaves and twigs. 
In some cases this secretion, instead of being lengthened out into 
fibres, assumes the character of down or fine powder, like meal. This 
substance, at least when it is in the form of meal, protects the Aphides 
from water which would otherwise prove destructive where they are 
