The Pulaski citizen. [volume] (Pulaski, Tenn.) 1866-current, 1874-07-09
THE PLANT LOUISE.
HOW the spinsser ATslaes Enersase and
AEalttrly.


How the spsnsser ArllLaes Increase ana
Maltiply.
The tiny, green louise lapbis) which Is
She universal pest Of vegetation, thriy-
ing ia some part Of the root, steHs or
Leaf Of almost every living plant, ls one
of the most extraordinary insects. 4s IS
8 minute little creature, but makes mp
IN numbers what IS lacks IA size II
makes It's appearances the hrst lear
that expands IN the spring, and con-
tinues its depredatioas until eEeE.T green
thing has persisted IN the autumEi. The
first broods Of the season, that are
Matched from eggs deposited the pre-
vious fall, consist, without single e1-
ception, Of females. These very soon 1
give birth to 8 second brood, which are 1
not Matched from eggs, but produced /
alive, and are also exclusively composed |
Of females. Bonnet, famous natural
ist of the eighteenth century. who made |
the aphides 3 special object of study
observed that each virgin plant-louse
brings forth, on an average, about one
hundred young-becoming the mother
of, perhaps. fifteen or twenty IN sun
gle day. This remarkable kind Of pro-
pagation continues through nine gener-
atoms. among which not a male aphls Is
created.
i
spinster aphides multiply, we haves at
/ the en5 of ten broo5s, as the progeny
of q single louise, 1s000, 900, OO0, 900
young. Prof. Huxley says, IN comment
ing on this fact g I VIII assume that
an aphis weighs the One-thousandth Of
a grain, which Is under the mark.
ouintillion will, on this estimate, weigh
a quadriIlion of grains he IL q very
stout man who weighs 2, 900, 600 grains;
consequently the tenth brood alone, II
all the members survive the perlls to
which they are exposed, contains more
substance that soc, O00, 600 stout men,
6 population OF China. Inte estimate IS
based on the supposition that the entire
progeny OF the plant-louse Survives
circumstance which IN reality never oc-
ours. Only pair or two of plant-lice,
ont of the enormous number produced
in the course of generations by each in
dividual of the first brood, is found at
the end of the season to have survived
the vicissitudes to which they are ex-
posed. The last brood brought forth in
, the autumn comprises both males and
females, which in due time are provided
with wings, and pair. The females then
deposit their eggs, and, with the death
of themselves snd their mates, the race
, becomes extinct for the season.
As soon as the aphides are ushersd
! into being, they plunge their neak into
the leaf or twig on which they crowd,
| and there remain through their lives,
/, lea ling a purely gluttonous existence.
!. When disturbed, they kick and sprawl
: about IN 8 most ludicrous way. Some
! times they will suspend themselves by
: their beaks, and toss their legs about as
: If In high frolic; but they take care
/ Il T.
s order that they may eat without ceas-
: ing, and vet never gorge themselves,
they are provided with two little tubes
: on each end of the body, through which
! the superintendent fluid they have tekeT
y in is discharged. In its passage through
7 the body It is turned into a sweet liquor
which, flowing from the tubes drop by
. drop, is called honey-dew. It is Otter
4 50 abundant as to cover entirely tn.
leaves of the plant on which the ic'
feed. Occasionally it solidifies into I
solid white sugar.
Ants are very fond of this saccharin,
fluid, and some species chiefly subsis
: on It. Hence the aphis has been called
, the ants milch-cow. The kindliest re
Le latiOn seems TO subsist between the two
The stems of plants infested witt
g aphides may be seen covered with leal
and hungry ants ascending to make thei
7 hive, and with stout, full-bodied ant
IL returning, whose sides are distorted
y with the sweet liquid they have swai
lowed. The visits of the ants give tn
o aphides no annoyance. On the contrary
% they will often distill the fiuid fron
/ their tubes in response to a caressin,
Is touch from the antennae of their curl
!, Gus friends. A single louise has bee
known to give off drop after drop {
ID successive ants, which were waiting anz
g. iously to receive 1t. In return, the ant
s, carefully remove all dirt or rubbisl
le from the aphides, and protect theT
20 from their enemies, especially the icl
re neuman flies, which arc perpetual
8, lowering about to deposit their eggs i
= the bodies of the lice.
y Some ants transfer the aphides {
q, their nests, where they cherish ther
ne with care, in order that they ma
u nave at hand constant supply of thei
d. coveted food. The aphides which liv
or upon the roots of plants are attende
n by ants, which build their nests in th
y. immediate vicinity, and take the sam
ar care of their green prOteges as of thei
90 own offspring. When the aphides an
e. disturbed, the ants betray the utnos
or alarm, and catching them up in thei
ne jaws, convey them to the most secret II
Id cesses of their nests. It is stated thai
n when the root lice have exhausted
IN plant on which they have lived, the ant
gs viii carry them to new pastures an
IS, that they watch with solitude over til
al eggs of the lice,-in fine weather brine
be ing them up to the surface to give theI
ut the advantage of the sun. It is a cur
OF GUS relation existing between two differ
ag emit species of insects,-one of the wor
At ders that abound in the animal world