INDIRECT BENEFITS DERIVED FROM INSECTS. 265 



its congeners, in the larva state feeds entirely on Aphi- 

 des'*; and the havoc made amongst them may be con- 

 ceived from the myriads upon myriads of these little 

 interesting animals, wliich are often to be seen in years 

 when the plant-louse abounds. In 1807 the shore at 

 Brighton and all the watering-places on the south coast 

 was litei-aily covered with them, to the great surprise 

 and even alarm of the inhabitants, who were ignorant 

 that their little visitors were emigrants from the neigh- 

 bouring hop-grounds, where in their larva state each 

 had slain his thousands and tens of thousands of the 

 Aphis, which under the name of the Fly so frequently 

 blasts the hopes of the hop-grower. It is fortunate that 

 in most countries the children have taken these friendly 

 CoccinellEB under their protection. In France they re- 

 gard them as sacred to the Virgin, and call them Vaches 

 a Dieu, Betes de la Vierge, &c. ; and with us, commi- 

 seration for the hard fate of a mother, whose " house 

 is on fire and children will burn," ensures them kind 

 treatment and liberty. Even the hop-growers are be- 

 coming sensible of their services, and, as I am informed, 

 hire boys to prevent birds from destroying them. — If we 

 could but discover a mode of increasing these insects at 

 will, we might not only, as Dr. Darwin has suggested, 

 clear our hot-houses of Aphides by their means, but 

 render our crops of hops much more certain tlian they 

 now are. Even without this knowledge, nothing is more 



'^ The larvas of some species of Coccinellrei feed, according to Prof. U, 

 Reich, solely on (he leaves of plants; as tliat of C. hierogJijphica, which 

 eats the leaves of coir.tnon heath (Erica vuJgaiis) after the manner of the 

 larvae of Lepidoptera. Der Gesellschaft na'airf. Fr. in licrlin Mag. &c. 

 In. 29-1. 



