The Colfax chronicle. [volume] (Colfax, Grant Parish, La.) 1877-1981, 1886-11-06
THE APhlpE FAMILY.



The Only Safe Method Of Destroying An
= Sorts Of Plant Lice.
Some of the most apparently insig
ni6cant insects do the greatest mischief
to the cultivator of the soil, and among
the most destructive pests are the vari
Gus plant lice. These small insects
havea curious history, both as regards
their physical character and the enor-
nous damage they infiict upon the
crops. One species has brought wide
spread ruin upon the vineyards Of
Europe and has threatened the entire
extinction of grape culture in France
and Germany until partial remedy
was found in grating the European
grapes upon our more hardy American
stocks. Other species attack wheat
and the grasses, cabbages. melons.
peas. beans, hops, fruit, trees of all
kinds, many forest trees, towering
shrubs and numerous other vegetables,
and by their enormous numbers utterly
vaaquish all efforts to subdue them.
The present year these insects have
almost destroyed the American hop
crop and have brought ruinous losses
upon the hop growers. Mankind are
powerless when they prevail and the
best efforts are defeated by these
minute creatures. whose very force
of infinite numbers makes them
invincible. How they increase and
spread so rapidly is surprise to
those who are not acquainted with their
habits and nature; and many persons
are led to suppose that they have some
origin different from that of other liv-
ing creatures because of their vast
powers of sudden propagation. But
this is . mistake. Like every other
species of animal life they are propa-
gated in the usual manner primarily,
but they have later development
which is abnormal and to which their
surprising numbers are duo. Plant
lice belong to the large family of bugs
and lice known to entomologists as
hemiptera, or half-winged insects. This
class of insects all live by suction, and
are provided with beaks which servo to
puncture and suck the juices from the
animals and plants which they invest.
The plant lice belong to the sub-order
Aphide, which is made up of many
genuses, and these have large num-
Der of species. They infest almost
every plant, roots, leaves and bark,
and arc the cause of the numerous
gals found upon the leaves and
branches. One variety is turned to
valuable use, as the cochineal insect
whose bright red color makes valua-
bic die; another is the shellac insect,
whose secretion is used for making
varnish.
The appearance of the insects is SC
we'll known that no description is nee
essary. The most curious part OF their
history is their manner of propagation.
The mature insects have wings and arc
like small green flies. These are male
and female. But the progeny of these
mature individuals are sexless, or,
! more correctly. perhaps, are bi-sexual,
having the ability to produce offspring
without any intermediate process of
generation, and this reproductive pro-
cess is continued for we know not how
many generations, but at least nine to
eleven: and in one instance an OBJ
| server kept the lice constantly repro
/ ductive for four years in warmed
| room, in which the broods were not
| injured by cold. The young produced
| in this way are alive, eggs being
produced only by the winged
lice. DIR. Burnett believes the young
lice are produced by sort OF
budding process. much in the way that
bacteria and other minute fungi or the
lowest forms of animal life are repro
duced. By this process the increase is
inconceivably rapid, and the sudden
appearance of overwhelming numbers
of them upon plants and trees is thus
explained. The unfortunate hop grow
ers can thus understand how in a
night, as it were, their yards are over
| run, and all their hopes of a crop are
dashed to the ground as by sudden
stroke. The muskmelon growers also
find their crops which they left in good
condition on Saturday night, stricken
down on Monday morning without any
hope of saving them.
There is no available remedy. The
pests, as soon as their hateful exist
ence begins. insert their beaks into the
leaves, always on the under side, and
suck the sap. The only resource is to
strip off these leaves and burn them; or
to destroy the plants upon which they
have made a Judgment, to save the
remainder, when this can be done.
The suddenness of the attack. however,
| generally makes this remedy unavail-
able. One precaution may be usefully
employed; this is to burn every vestige
of crop which has been infested.
because some eggs may have been de-
posted by few mature-winged lice;
and these will remain during the winter
to hatch in the spring and start the de-
vastating horde on new course
Fruit trees should be pruned. especially
cherries, pears, peaches and apples,
and the bark of willows, apples, horse
chestnut and other trees which are in.
tested with bark lice should be washed
| -,:xi 1svv>o ~ ofr<.y, ~ I've and the fviOy