Winter Meeting. 



289 



leaf with the colony of aphids, and the adults soon hatch and lay their 

 eggs for another brood. 



The common Lady-bug beetle, of which we have many species, is 

 also one of our best friends. These insects lay their eggs upon all kinds 

 of trees and plants that are infested with scale insects and plant lice, 

 and the larvae and ' adults both feed upon scale insects, and in most in- 

 stances the larvae feed ravenously upon plant lice. You will find these 

 larvae inside of curled-up leaves containing colonies of aphids, walking 

 about and killing a good many more aphids than they have any use for, 

 just the same as the larvae of the Lace-Winged Fly above described. 

 In fact, the two kinds of larvae are very apt to be found together assist- 

 ing in this work of preventing the development of the colonies of plant 

 lice. By referring to Figs. 13, 14, 15, you will get some idea of the 



Fig. 13. 



Fig. 14. 



Fig. 15. 

 Lady-bug beetles, larvae and pupae. 



appearance of the adults and larvae of some of the different species of 

 Lady-bug beetles. When the larvae become full-grown, they fasten the 

 caudal end of the body to a leaf and transform to pupae, which soon en- 

 transform to adults. 



H— 19 



