from
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48
Aphis \A"phis\, n.; pl. {Aphides}. [NL.] (Zool.)
A genus of insects belonging to the order Hemiptera and
family {Aphid[ae]}, including numerous species known as plant
lice and green flies.
[1913 Webster]
Note: Besides the true males and females, there is a race of
wingless asexual individuals which have the power of
producing living young in rapid succession, and these
in turn may produce others of the same kind for several
generations, before sexual individuals appear. They
suck the sap of plants by means of a tubular proboscis,
and owing to the wonderful rapidity of their
reproduction become very destructive to vegetation.
Many of the {Aphid[ae]} excrete honeydew from two tubes
near the end of the body.
[1913 Webster]