Author Description

This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1894 Excerpt: ...that species being described by him, by Kolhir and others, as being of a green color, whereas, our insect in its winged state is almost invariably black, its abdomen only being green. But having recently been favored with specimens of the European insect, from my esteemed friend Dr. Signoret, of Paris, and also on comparing our Aphis with the description given of the European by M. Amyot (Annals Entom. Soc., France, 3d series, vol. v, page 478), and the detailed account of the veins of its wings, furnished by Mr. Walker ( List of British Museum, page 985), not the slightest doubt remains in my mind, hut that the insects of the two continents are identical, and that upon this side of the Atlantic it has been introduced by the trees brought hither from Europe, "The history of this species and its annual career is as follows: Early in the spring, sunk deep in the cracks and crevices and in the bark of the apple trees, maybe seen numbers of small, oval,black, shining eggs.from which these insects are produced. Scraping off the dead bark of old trees, and coating the trunks of all the trees with whitewash at that period of the year is a practice of much utility, since thereby most of the eggs and some other insect depredators will be destroyed and the health of the tree promoted. These eggs hatch quite early, as soon as the buds begin to expand, and the young lice locate themselves upon the small, tender leaves, inserting their beaks therein and pumping out their juices. All of the lice thus hatched are females, and reach maturity in ten or twelve days. Without any intercourse of the sexes, these females that are produced from eggs, now commence giving birth to living young, bringing forth about two daily, for a peried of two or three weeks, when having bec...