LADY-BIRD ENEMIES 35 



on Plate IV, Figs. 4 and 5. Text-figs. 7-12 show the 

 various parasites and hyper-parasites which have been 

 found up to the present. 



Other enemies are the so-called lady-bird beetles. 

 Very few of these have been noticed in the coffee districts 

 of Mysore. The larvae of Chilomenes sex-inaculata have 

 been observed feeding on the bugs, but there were very 

 few of these and those few apparently did not relish the 

 pest very much. In Bangalore, attempts were made to 

 accustom lady-bird larvte found feeding on a mealy bug 

 belonging to an unidentified species, to a green bug diet, 

 but the experiment failed. A third species found attack- 

 ing a species of scale insect (Phenacoccus sp.) also did 

 not relish the new food provided. 



The fourth species tried was Chilocorus nigritus^ a 

 blue hemispherical beetle which was found to feed both in 

 the adult and larval stages on green bug (see Text-figs. 

 13-15). The life histor}^ of this lady-bird has been studied, 

 and is as follows : — 



The beetles lay eggs on the stem especially under- 

 neath the scaly bark and sometimes also on the under side 

 of the leaf. The eggs hatch in about a week. The larvae 

 are small thickset grubs with long serrated spines proceed- 

 ing from tubercles on the segments (see Text-fig. 11). The 

 second and third segments of the thorax are a little darker 

 and stouter than the rest. The dark colour is also found 

 in the last few abdominal segments but there is a con- 

 siderable variation in this regard. As the larvae grow, the 

 darkness of these segments increases, especially of those in 

 the thoracic region. The spines grow longer accompanied 

 by an increase in length of the serrations. The larvte 

 moult three times before pupation, this latter taking place 

 in the split skin of the last instar (see Text-fig. 13). The 

 life history from egg to adult takes nearly a month, the 

 period being distributed as follows : — Egg, eight days ; 1st 

 larval stage (or instar), four days; 2nd larval stage, four 

 days; 3rd larval stage, five days; and 4th, seven days. It 

 has not been possible to study further the details of the 

 life history of the beetle, the presence or absence of para- 

 sites, its reactions to seasonal changes and weather con- 

 ditions. The beetles died too soon. This lady-bird has 

 not been noticed anywhere in the districts of Mysore 

 either on green bug or on other scale insects, but there 

 oan be no doubt that, provided it multiplies in sufficient 



p2 



