LADY-BEETLES. 



33 



A few of them are found in blossoms, very likely eating pol- 

 len ; but as flowers produce an abundance of this material the 

 beetles cause no damage, on the contrary, they may even be useful 

 by carrying- pollen from flower to flower, thus cross-fertilizing 

 them. 



FAMILY LADY-BUGS. 



(Coccinellidae) . 



These very beneficial insects are the best friends of our 

 orchardists, as nearly all of them seem to devote their time, both 

 as larvae and as adults, to destroying the injurious leaf-lice and 

 scale-insects. The beetles are rather handsome, almost always 

 of a bright red or orange color, with intense black spots ; or they 

 are polished black with red spots. The bright colors protect 

 them to a large extent against insect-devouring birds, since it 

 shows them that the food is not good to eat, they having learned 

 by experience that such bright colors coming from such insects 

 indicate nasty odors or, perhaps, a nasty taste. At all events in- 

 sects marked by such showy and conspicuous colors are not often 

 eaten. The bodies of lady-bugs are usually of an oval or hemi- 

 spherical form, very convex, and almost flat below. The short 



Fig. 32 — Megilla maculata, De G. After Division 

 of Entomology, U. S. Department of Agriculture. 



Fig. 33. — Megilla mucu 

 lata,T)eG.; parasitised. 

 After Division of Ento- 

 mology, U. S. Depart- 

 ment of Agriculture. 



