The Oakley herald. [volume] (Oakley, Idaho) 1908-1961, 1919-06-27

10 tne corn PbantS.
prepared by the United States Depart
ment of Agriculture.)
New wonders Of nature continually
are opening to the home gardener who
watches carefully the evolution Of the
creatures In his food plot. Even the
insects that attack his plants have
power to amaze. And no insects are
more interesting than the tiny plant
lice or aphids, which grow In large
number Of forms and suck the juices
from various kinds Of plants.
The most remarkable thing about
some Of the aphids Is their partnership
with other insects. Many forms of the
aphids are fostered and protected from
the beginning to the end Of their little
lives by the Industrious ants. The part
nership seems to have reached a most
pefect form in the case of the corn
root aphids and the cornfield ant, and
1t is usually found that where there
are aphids there are ants.
Operation Of Ant-Aphls Alliance.
The partnership Of ant and aphis-
the cornfleld ant and the corn-rOot
aphis-operates In nearly every Sec
ton where corn is grown east of the
Rocky mountains. especially In some
Of the corn belt states. The work
ings of the partnership have been COM
pared to subterranean dairy, with
the aphis as the ants "cow," the ant
directing the enterprise, the aphis do
Ing the work. and the ant getting the
profits. The ant Is not directly harm
full to the corn, but the aphis Is. With
out the ant, however, the firm would
have to- go out Of business, and that is
why the United States department of
to get rid of corn-root aphis to get rid
OF the ant. The same advice applies
in the case of certain other forms of
root aphids.
This is how the subterranean dairy
works:
In the fall the ants carry the eggs
of the aphids to their nests and care
for them as they do for their own
young. In the spring, when the eggs
hatch, the ants tunnel along weed
roots and place the helpless aphlds on
the roots. Soon the aphids begin to
give off "honeydew," made from the
juices of the plants on which the
aphids are resting The ant dearly
loves "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-plant-
ed corn sprouts the ants transfer the
aphlds 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
to alight near an ant Hill they are
seized Immediately by the watchful
ants, carried into their burrows, placed
on roots, and honeydew production
) 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 fur
row.
The particular aphis that attacks
corn Is called the corn-roOt aphis be
cause Of its preference for that plant
In gardens 1t is very common on as
tiers and related plants. There are
! many other varieties of aphis, 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 surround
g these aphids, attack other insects tina
attempt to reach them, and induce tn,
aphids to excrete honeydew by strCk
ing their bodies with their antennae
or feelers. Unfortunately for the or
ange aphids, however. they are at
tackled by winged parasites which
"sting" and lay eggs in them, and tnes'
parasites sre so small and active tina
the ants cannot successfully defent
their charges.
. How to Control Pests.
The corr-root aphids in fields is con
trolled by rotating with crops upol
: which the aphids cannot live, by pillow
3 lag and disking, thus breaking up TIL
$ ant and aphis colonies, and by the us
of certain pungent substances, mixes
with a chemical fertilizer and distrih
t uted by means of a fertilizer attach
r ment to the corn planter. These sub
l. stances tend TO drive away the ant
and prevent them from placing aphid
on the corn roots.
D Aphids in Gardens.
i The home gardeners whose plant
+. are attacked by aphds, such as tt