THE PLANT-LICE. 
237 
means of its long tubular beak ; and they rarely change 
their places till they have exhausted the part first attacked. 
The attitudes and manners of these little creatures are ex- 
ceedingly amusing. When disturbed, like restive horses, 
they begin to kick and sprawl in the most ludicrous manner. 
They may be seen, at times, suspended by their beaks alone, 
and throwing up their legs as if in a high frolic, but too 
much engaged in sucking to withdraw their beaks. As they 
take in great quantities of sap, they would soon become 
gorged if they did not get rid of the superabundant fluid 
through the two little tubes or pores at the extremity of 
their bodies. When one of them gets running-over full, 
it seems to communicate its uneasy sensations, by a kind of 
animal magnetism, to the whole flock, upon which they all, 
with one accord, jerk upwards their bodies, and eject a 
shower of the honeyed fluid. The leaves and bark of plants 
much infested by these insects are often completely sprinkled 
over with drops of this sticky fluid, which, on drying, become 
dark colored, and greatly disfigure the foliage. This appear- 
ance has been denominated honey-dew ; but there is another 
somewhat similar production observable on plants, after very 
dry weather, which has received the same name, and consists 
of an extravasation or oozing of the sap from the leaves. 
We are often apprised of the presence of plant-lice on 
plants growing in the open air by the ants ascending and 
descending the stems. By observing the motions of the 
latter, we soon ascertain that the sweet fluid discharged by 
the lice is the occasion of these visits. The stems swarm 
with slim and hungry ants running upwards, and others 
lazily descending with their bellies swelled almost to bursting. 
When arrived in the immediate vicinity of the plant-lice, 
they greedily wipe up the sweet fluid which has distilled 
from them, and when this fails, they station themselves 
among the lice, and catch the drops as they fall. 
The lice do not seem in the least annoyed by the ants, 
but live on the best possible terms with them ; and, on the 
