Lady-bu^s, Lady-birds 267 



scale. This is a beetle of course and is neither a 

 bird nor a bug, nevertheless, as children, we always 

 said to one of the captured insects: 



Lady-bug, lady bug, 



Fly away home. 

 Your house is on fire. 

 And your cliildren all gone. 



It was always a bug to the American children 

 and a bird in the Sunday-school books and with 

 the European children, but it is a ])eetle to natur- 

 alists. Some time ago, an eminent botanist brought 

 several tiny Oriental lady-bugs from China, but 

 though he took the best of care of them, many 

 insects died en route. Even after landing more 

 of them perished, so that finally only two little 

 lady-bugs remained to face the great feast of juicy 

 scale insects. 



These two, however, were carefully nourished 

 and trained by the Government and now quite a 

 numerous progeny is ready to take a stand against 

 our natural enemy, the scale. The Government in 

 using lady-bugs for this purpose is following the 

 method of extermination used in Cliina. 



In 1888, Albert Koebele, a collector for Pro- 

 fessor Riley, discovered in Australia a little lady- 



