THE TINIEST COWS

Dominion, Volume 23, Issue 139, 8 March 1930, Page 26

THE TINIEST COWS

Have you ever seen those tiny grey things on the back of cabbage or rose leaves? They are green aphides, and are a great enemy of the gardener. Although it is a pest, the life of an aphis is very interesting. The female lays her eggs in the autumn, and when the young come out there are hundreds of them. Before the autumn comes, however, she does not lay eggs. Instead of this, a tiny bud comes on to her back. When this opens a tiny aphis comes out. This goes on all tlie time until. there are millions of aphides on the leaf. There are three different kinds of aphides—green, black and black ami white. Green are the most common. They look grey, but that is because they have a blanket covering them. Instead of shedding her skin right off. tlie female keeps it fastened on in one place, so that it is like a blanket. If you rub it off, you will see that it is green underneath. Aphides have two tubes on their back, out of which comes a syrup called honeydew. Ants milk them for this and they are often called “ants cows.” Gardeners often call aphides “green blight,” but this is not their correct name. The male has wings, but tfie female is wingless and legless.—From “Nut Mayde,” Tonga roa.