THE MONTHLY BULLETIN. 199 



and Carum kelloggii. In the Porterville section, as well as in the vicin- 

 ity of Riverside, the larvae feed upon orange trees and in the former 

 district promise to be a pest. 



Control. — The larvae occur singly and in rather few numbers upon 

 the trees, but their ravenous appetites and ability to consume great 

 amounts of foliage often makes control necessary. As they are easily 

 located hand picking is the remedy recommended. 



Natural Enemies. — Fortunately natural enemies play a large part in 

 the control of this insect, otherwise greater damage would be done. 

 Mr. Karl E. Coolidge, who first called attention to it as an orange pest, 

 states that a tachinid fly and a species of Apanteles prey upon the 

 larvae. 



COLEOPTERA (Order). 



SHEATH-WINGED INSECTS. 



BEETLES AND WEEVILS. 



The insects of this order are easily recognized by their hard, leathery 

 elytra, commonly known as wing covers. The true wings are folded 

 underneath these. All forms have complete metamorphoses, the young 

 being wormlike and known as grubs. They usually have but six func- 

 tional legs. The pupal stage is quiescent. The mouth-parts are for 

 biting and chewing. 



All of the members of this order are extremely destructive, the grubs 

 and adults working throughout their entire existence. There are great 

 numbers of destructive beetles and weevils in California but we can in- 

 clude only a few of the more important ones. 



COCCINELLIDtE: (Family). 



LADYBIRD BEETLES. 



This family of beetles is one of the most important and 'beneficial 

 among insects. Only one genus of a few species is destructive, while 

 the rest are particularly noted for their work upon scale insects {Coc- 

 cidoe.) and plant lice (AphididcB) . 



Eggs. — The eggs vary considerably with the different members of 

 the family and are seldom if ever observed. Those most often met 

 with are the salmon-colored masses (Fig. 189B) of the Hippodamia 

 sps., which are laid on ends not unlike bunches of cigars. Others 

 are deposited singly upon or underneath individual scale insects, in 

 the egg-masses of mealy bugs or among plant lice. 



Larvae. — The young grubs or larvae are exceedingly active and begin 

 to feed soon after hatching. As the period of growth is short their 

 ability to consume food must be great, and we find them unexcelled as 

 predators. They have rather long, pointed and flattened bodies (Fig. 

 189 C), well developed mouth-parts and six legs. The colors are exceed- 

 ingly variable, the bodies are hairy, some being covered with long, 



