884 Rural School Leaflet 



lice and then repeats the process. At last, when it is perhaps half an inch 

 long, some day it hangs itself up and sheds its old spiny skin and changes 

 into a queer little spotted pupa. Here it hangs, still and helpless, for 

 some days, and then the pupa skin bursts, and out comes a little hemi- 

 spherical ladybird which may soon be ready to lay more eggs. Or, if 

 too late in the season for this, she may seek a cozy nook in which to pass 

 the winter. We often find her in the curtains about our windows and we 

 should be very careful not to harm her; instead, we should cherish her 



and let her out when spring comes, so that 

 she can go on helping us. The help the 

 ladybirds give us is all the more valuable 

 because both plant lice and scale insects 

 have mouth parts in the form of a 

 Larva, pupa, and adult of a species sucking tube, which is pushed down into 



the stem of theplant, thus reaching the sap 

 and sucking it up, injuring the plant. Spraying the plants does not 

 inconvenience these insects at all, because they never get a taste of the 

 poison applied to the outside of the plant. 



If we look at a ladybird carefully we can see that she has attached to 

 her head a pair of short, club-like antennae. Behind the head is the 

 thorax covered with a shield, which is broader toward the rear and is 

 ornamented in various patterns. The head and thorax together occupy 

 scarcely a quarter of the length of the insect, the remainder consisting 

 of the half-globular body encased in polished wing-covers. Below these 

 wing covers is a long pair of dark wings, which are folded crosswise when 

 at rest. 



The ladybird is a good flyer as well as a rapid runner. One of the 

 greatest achievements of economic entomologists was the introduction 

 on the Pacific Coast of a ladybird from Australia, called the Vedalia, 

 which preys on the cottony-cushion scale insect, a species of insect intro- 

 duced from Australia also and very injurious to orange and lemon trees. 

 Within a few years the introduced ladybirds had completely exterminated 

 this pest. 



LESSON FOR THE PUPILS 



Method. — The ladybird beetles are very common in the autumn and 

 may then be brought to the schoolroom and passed around in phials for 

 the children to observe. As many species as possible should be collected. 

 The ladybird larvae may be found on almost any plant infested wdth plant 

 Hce. A plant with the insects on it may be brought into the schoolroom 

 and studied. 



