The sun., 1919-05-25

give off "honeydew," made from the
juices Of the plants on which the
aphids are resting. The ants dearly
love 'honeydew," and they tenderly
watch over and care for their COWS"
The aphids are wholly dependent
throughout their life on the ants.
Escaped Aphids Seized by Ants.
The first two or three generations
OF aphids live entirely on the roots of
weeds, but as soon as the newly
planted corn sprouts the ants transfer
the aphids to the more succulent corn
roots. After two or three successive
generations, many of the aphids may
be winged, and some escape from the
ground through the ant tunnels and
fly away to a new field. II they chance
to alight near an ant hill they are
seized Immediately by the watchful
ants, carried into their burrows,
placed on roots and "honeydew" pro-
duction starts again.
When cold weather is approaching
and the ant carries the aphids' eggs
and the young ants deeper into the
soil, the ant goes at least eight inches
under the soil and eight inches IS
deeper than the ordinary pillow furrow.
The particular aphis that attacks
corn Is called the corn root aphis be-
cause Of its preference for that plant.
In gardens it is very common on
asters and related plants. There are
many other varieties of aphids, how
ever. and for many of them ants have
a tender feeling. For instance, there
are the aphids that attack orange
trees in California. The ants sur
round these aphids. attack other in
sects that attempt to reach them, and
induce the aphids to excrete heneydew
by stroking their bodies with their
antennae or feelers. Unfortunately
for the orange aphids. however, they
are attacked by winged parasites
which sting" and lay eggs in them.
and these parasites are so small and
active that the ants can not success
fully defend their charges.
How to Control Pests.
The corn root aphids in fields is
controlled by rotating with crops upon
which the aphids can not live by plow-
ing and disking, thus breaking up the
ant and aphis colonies. and by the
use of certain pungent substances,
mixed with a chemical fertilizer and
distributed by means of a fertilizer
attachment to the corn planter. These
ants and prevent them from placing
aphids on the corn roots.
Aphfds in Cardens
To home gardeners whose plants
are attacked by aphids, such as the
melon aphis, spinach aphis. potato
aphis and the turnip and cabbage
aphids, which live above ground spray
ing with 40 per cent. nicotine sui
phate at the rate of one teaspoonful
of the sulphate to one gallon of water,
in which has been dissolved a one inch
cube of laundry soap.
Killing the ants, Of course, by de-
stroying their colonies, will help in
the control of the corn root aphids
in gardens and this is about the only
way it can be controlled, since living
underground 1t can not be reached
by sprays. The simplest attack on
the ants is to scald their hills with
boiling water. Another method is
to pour a little carbon disulphid into
the entrance to the ant hill and i'm
mediately cover the entrance with
earth in order to keep the poisonous
fumes in the burrow
Spraying with nicotine sulphate,
however. is the standard remedy
for most garden aphids. and should
ha
they are found to be present, as they
increase very rapidly and unless
checked soon kill the plants.