804 Marvels of the Universe 
When newly hatched, they re- 
semble ordinary tadpoles in being 
devoid of limbs; but whereas the 
latter are at first provided with 
branching external gills, in the 
tadpoles of the Midwife Toad these 
gills, of which there is only one 
on each side, are shed before 
hatching and replaced by internal 
ones, which again give place in due 
course to lungs. 
DAIRYING ANTS 
BNE Jel, Sil, Io UG IDOIWIS NSO, 
Photo by] LH. St. J. K. Donisthorpe. x r , 
A WINGED ROOT-APHIS. ONE of the most important items 
Found in a Wood-ant’s nest at Oxshott. in the menu of many kinds of 
ants is obtained from Plant Lice. The latter are known as Aphides, “ Green Fly,” “ Blight,” etc. 
They are insects, having six legs and a long delicate rostrum, with which they pierce the integument 
of plants and suck up the juices. They are well called “ ant cows,’ as ants both milk and breed 
them, keeping them in herds and building sheds for them and walls to protect them. The liquid 
which the ants obtain from these “‘ cows’ is voided in colourless drops, and contains a fair pro- 
portion of sugar. When voided on to the leaves of plants it is called ““ honey-dew.”’ Some species 
of ants lick it off the leaves, but 
others actually milk the Plant 
Lice. They stroke them with their 
antenne, when a droplet is exuded, 
which the ants suck up. Many 
Aphides possess two tubes, which 
are situated on the top of the back 
near the end of the body. It has 
been incorrectly stated that it is 
from these tubes that the droplet 
is obtained, and, indeed, many 
text-books on entomology repeat 
this error. It is, however, from 
the extremity of the body that the 
sweet secretion is supplied. The 
tubes contain a thicker and more 
sticky substance, and this is used 
to protect them- 
”) 
by the “ cows 
selves from the “ Aphis-lion,” the 
grubs of lady-birds, and other 
insects which prey on them. The 
“cows” also obtain protection 
from the ants, which drive away 
Photo bu) [H. St. J. K. Donisthorpe. 
THE “BUG-LIKE” APHIS. their enemies. 
The most truly ant-loving of all Aphides. It is never found anywhere but in Some ants collect the eges of 
ants’ nests, and there it seems to have the “‘run of the place.’” When the nest rs 
Plant Lice when laid, and keep 
is disturbed it seeks the safer retreats of its own accord 
