yS NATURE STUDY. 



does. They are beautiful insects when alive, in bright 

 golden or green, but they lose their colors after they are 

 dead. They live on the leaves of niorning-glorj^, nettle 

 and sweet potato, and will repay us for a careful study of 

 them and their habits another year, now that we have 

 come to know them. 



Nearly every child knows the Lady-bug, or at least one 

 species of the family to which the Lady-bugs belong. 

 The old jingle. 



Lady-bug, Lady-bug, fly away home. 



Your house is on fire, your children will burn. 



has reference to the shape and color of these familiar bee- 

 tles, which are very deep for their length and breadth, 

 nearly hemispherical, like half an apple laid flat side down, 

 and generally bright red or yellow, with black spots. A 

 few are black, with white, red or yellow spots. One kind 

 has five spots on the wing-covers, another has nine, and 

 still another has thirteen ; but the best-known Lady-bug, 

 in the Eastern States, has two spots, one on each red 

 wing-cover. It is the Lady-bug which children see most 

 frequently, because it is common about the orchard and 

 garden, and frequently hides in houses during the winter, 

 coming out upon the walls and windows in early spring. 

 It is then oftened killed, because of the general prejudice 

 against all insects, but if people knew their habits, they 

 would be kindly treated, as being among our best friends. 

 For, if left alive, these Lady-bugs would soon find their 

 way out of doors where they would deposit great quanti- 

 ties of eggs, from which would hatch active, hungry little 

 creatures that run about over trees and shrubs hunting for 

 other insects, and catching and eating more of them than 

 the farmer or gardener can kill with all his poisonous 

 mixtures. 



This little bright red Lady-bug is called Adalia bipunr 

 tata by the scientists, bipunctata meaning two-spotted. 



