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WISCONSIN STATE AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
perish. The eggs remain securely hid away during winter, to 
be called, by the warm days of another spring, into life, again 
to repeat this wonderful phenomenon. 
Aphis Protectors. —Ants are almost always seen busily 
running up and down trees and plants infested by the aphis. 
These ants take charge of the lice, guard them from harm with 
zealous care; for which good services they are amply paid in 
honey, by the plant lice. The ants approach the lice, and if 
there is not an accumulated supply, they touch them with 
their antennae by wa}^ of reminding them of their wants ; at 
once the lice respond with a drop of their sweet fluid. For 
this reason plant lice are humorously called Ant Cows. It is 
a well known fact, that colonies of apides attended by ants 
thrive better and are mor6 prolific than those which the ants 
have not found. 
Aphis Enemies. —Now for the Aphis foes, and conse¬ 
quently our friends. We place first on the roll of honor, the 
larvae of the Lace-wing flies, which are called Plant Lice Lions, 
a name well deserved. Lace-wings belong to the family Ee- 
merobdia , order Neuroptera. There are many species of 
Lace-wings; they are mostly not over half an inch in length ; 
color, pale green, or yellowish brown, with conspicuously 
prominent golden eyes, for which reason they are sometimes 
called golden eyes. They are provided with four large wings, 
which expand a little over one inch. These wings are netted 
in a beautiful manner, resembling the finest lace, hence the 
name. These flies may be met with during the entire summer, 
in the vicinity of trees infested with lice. They are nocturnal 
in their habits. 
The manner in which the female Lace-wing deposits her 
eggs challenges our admiration at the beautiful adaptation of 
means to the accomplishment of important ends. Nature has 
furnished this insect with a fluid analogous to that of the spi¬ 
der, for spinning her web. When ready to deposit an egg, this 
insect touches the end of her body to a branch or leaf, and 
then elevates the abdomen, drawing out a pure white thread, 
