Their existence is
duller than that of the very dullest cathedral city. They are thus
essentially degenerate creatures: they have found the conditions of life
too easy for them, and they have reverted to something so low and simple
that they are almost plant-like in some of their habits and
peculiarities.
The ancestors of the aphides were free winged insects; and, in certain
stages of their existence, most living species of aphides possess at
least some winged members. On the rose-bush, you can generally pick off
a few such larger winged forms, side by side with the wee green wingless
insects. But creatures which have taken to passing most of their life
upon a single spot on a single plant hardly need the luxury of wings;
and so, in nine cases out of ten, natural selection has dispensed with
those needless encumbrances. Even the legs are comparatively little
wanted by our modern aphides, which only require them to walk away in a
stately sleepy manner when rudely disturbed by man, lady-birds, or other
enemies; and indeed the legs are now very weak and feeble, and incapable
of walking for more than a short distance at a time under exceptional
provocation. The eyes remain, it is true; but only the big ones: the
little ocelli at the top of the head, found amongst so many of their
allies, are quite wanting in all the aphides. In short, the plant-lice
have degenerated into mere mouths and sacks for sucking and storing food
from the tissues of plants, provided with large honey-tubes for getting
rid of the waste sugar.
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