These flies lay their eggs upon the foliage of plants infested by aphids or caterpillars, and from these eggs legless and headless larvae emerge (Fig.
The larvae are predaceous and feed upon aphids (Fig.
But taking a general view of the life-story of aphids for comparison with the life-story of other insects, three points are especially noteworthy.
The yearly cycle of the common Aphids of the apple tree has been lately worked out in detail by J.
In early chapters we have already noticed the long aquatic life of the larva and nymph of a dragon-fly, relatively a large insect, and the rapid multiplication of the repeated summer broods of virgin aphids (p.
If you are close enough you will probably see the butterfly uncoil its tongue and sip up a liquid on twig or leaf--the exudations of the woolly aphids that make up the supposed excrescence and suck the sap from the bark.
Much of this sap passes through the bodies of the aphids and collects in liquid globules on twigs and leaves, forming a sort of honey-dew which is much sought after by flies, wasps, and other insects.
It has been known for hundreds of years that the ants use the aphids as a sort of domestic milk-producer, attending the aphids at all times and even caring for their eggs throughout the winter season.
In many cases the ants have been observed to stroke the aphids with their antennae in a way which seems to induce the aphid to give out a drop of the sweet liquid for the ant to lap up.
The woolly aphids thus serve as the sole food of the caterpillar during its brief life as a larva.
No, May, they are not falling to pieces; that powder can all be rubbed off, and there are your aphids whole and sound beneath it.
Yes, May's aphidsproduce the white powder instead of honey dew.
What, John, you have heard that the aphids give out honey dew from two little horns near the tip of the abdomen?
Sometimes aphids live on the roots of plants as well as on the leaves.
May says she is glad to know that; she thought her aphids had something the matter with them.
They drive off those insects that would devour the aphids, and when winter comes these ants carry the aphids down into their warm nests under ground, and keep them safe through the cold weather.
The aphids are very curious insects, and when you are older I hope you will remember to study them carefully.
The under side of maple leaves affords good pasturage to numerous green aphids which there browse contentedly in the pleasant shade and under the watchful eyes of the small brown ants that herd them.
The aphids are all sizes and ages, though as to age the difference is probably but a few days.
Their presence appears to be agreeable to the aphids and is never in the least resented.
With a glass, the process of "milking" may be observed, the ants merely stroking the aphids with their antennae.
Large numbers of spruce aphids were found, as well as flies, beetles, hymenopterans, and other insects.
Describe the habit that certain ants have of caring for plant-lice or aphids which secrete honey-dew.
The remaining aphids fed placidly while their enemy did vast slaughter among them.
This ant-lion charged into the placidly feeding aphidson the milkweed plant.
Ants marched up and down its stalk in a steady, single file, placingaphids from the ant-city on suitable spots to feed, and to multiply as only parthenogenic aphids can do.
This species of aphids are easily killed in the adult stage by certain contact sprays.
After the leaves expand somewhat and the blossom buds separate, the aphids are provided with more hiding places and are more difficult to hit with the spray.
The ideal time to spray for these aphids is just as soon as all or nearly all the eggs appear to have hatched.
The aphids were very numerous and unfortunately caused the defoliation of all the currants with the exception of the blacks.
Spraying for aphids at the time of the cluster bud spray is, however, highly effective, and in general it is advised that this method be followed.
In 1914, apple aphids caused serious damage in certain counties in Illinois, and some damage was reported from many sections of the state.
Aphids infesting the apple buds appeared in serious numbers during the present season in the Illinois University orchards when the buds began to swell.
The larvae of some of the smaller syrphid flies feed upon the larvae of other insects, aphids in particular; but the larva of this one has never been seen, at least it has never been recognized.
It must be admitted that, as things go in Nature, the ladybird has met her just fate, for she has spent her life devouring bugs, the sucking aphids and scale insects of our rose bushes and cherry trees.
The relation between ants and aphids has often been compared to that between men and milch cattle.
Webster has observed ants, foreseeing this emigration, to carry aphids from apple trees to grasses.
The development of Aphids has been dealt with by T.
The leaves of plants are for the most part the objects of attack, but many aphids and scale-insects pierce stems, and some go underground and feed on roots.
While the aphids much prefer corn-roots to live on, they will get along very well on the roots of smart-weed or pigeon-grass.
Well, the aphids stay on the smart-weed roots until the corn is planted, which is in about ten days, and the kernels begin to germinate and to send down the tender juice-filled roots.
For the aphids pay for this help by acting as 'cattle' for the ants.
Indeed not only the little brown ants alone take care of the corn-root aphids to get honey-dew, but at least six other kinds of ants that live in the Illinois corn-fields do it.
So the clever little brown ants put the almost helpless baby aphids on the tender roots of these weeds, and there their tiny beaks begin to be satisfied.
In fact, I quote to Mary this honest professor's exact words about this transfer of the aphids from the weed-roots to the corn-roots.
But we have seen them collect honey stuff from various aphids and also from the growing twigs of live-oak trees.
The aphids live only two or three weeks, but each one before it dies gives birth to about twelve young aphids.
Of course such a thing never happens, because so many of the young aphids get eaten by lady-bird beetles and flower-fly larvae and other enemies before they come to be old enough to produce young.
So the wise men have studied the ways and life of these little aphids to see if some way can be devised to keep them in check.
But the little brown ants are the most abundant and seem to give the aphids the best care.
What, then, shall the hungering baby aphids and their foster-mothers, the little brown ants, do?
In bugs and aphids the lacinia is a slender needle-like piercer (fig.
In bugs and aphids (Hemiptera), the fused second maxillae form a jointed grooved beak or rostrum (fig.
In other gall-flies and in aphids we find that a sexual generation alternates with one or with many virgin generations.
The ants stroke the aphids in a particular manner in order to make them excrete the honey-dew, and know exactly where to expect the evacuated liquid.
This is also exhibited by all ants that harbor root-aphids and root-coccids in their nests.
This circlet is lacking in aphidsthat are rarely or never visited by ants.
Some ants obtain the honey-dew merely by licking the surface of the leaves and stems on which it has fallen, but many species have learned to stroke the aphids and induce them to void the liquid gradually so that it can be imbibed directly.
Among the modifications in structure and behavior which may be regarded as indicating on the part of aphids unmistakable evidence of adaptation to living with ants, the following may be cited: 1.
The aphids do not attempt to escape from the ants or to defend themselves with their siphons, but accept the presence of these attendants as a matter of course.
The aphids respond to the solicitations of the ants by extruding the droplets of honey-dew gradually and not by throwing them off to a distance with a sudden jerk, as they do in the absence of ants.
Ants do not seize and kill aphidsas they do when they encounter other sedentary defenseless insects.
The solicitude of the ants not only envelops the adult aphids and coccids, but extends also to their eggs and young.
Ants marched up and down its stalk in a steady single file, placing aphids from their nearby ant-city on suitable spots to feed,--and to multiply as only parthenogenic aphids can do.
Kerosene emulsion may also be prepared, and is excellent for killing, both the small green aphids that often cover the leaves of Roses, and other hard, scaly insects.
Tobacco water will kill the black aphids which appear on the stems and leaves of hardy Chrysanthemums.
The above list will hopefully give you a few useful examples demonstrating the appropriate usage of "aphids" in a variety of sentences. We hope that you will now be able to make sentences using this word.
