179 



Fig. \7'-i. Cocci- 

 nclla !i-7iot(ilii . En- 

 larged as indicated. 



THE T AD Y BUGS. 



(Joccinellidw. 



The coriiinoii black-spotted red or yellow ladybugs are well-known 

 enemies of plant-lice, upon which both larvae and adults generally feed. 

 They also eat larvae and soft-bodied insects of various kinds, together 

 with the pollen and floral organs of grasses and some 

 other plants, and spores of fungi and lichens. They 

 have been repeatedly reported in different parts of the 

 country, eating corn kernels, especially when in the 

 milk, and occasionally, also, the leaves of the plant. 

 Megilla maculata has been seen by us hollowing out 

 exposed kernels at the tip of the ear, following upon 

 some previous injury. Pergande saw several beetles and larva? eating 

 young corn kernels near Washington, and in Maryland this ladybug has 

 done considerable injury by eating holes in the leaves of corn. Coc- 

 cinella novemnotata was once seen eating the leaf, and has also been taken 

 by us within the husks on the standing car. 



The common ladybug, Megilla 

 maculata (Fig. 174), is rather nar- 

 rowly oval, about a (juarter of an 

 inch long, a bright pinkish red, 

 spotted with black. The thorax is 

 distinctively marked with two oval 

 black spots, one each side of the 

 middle. On the wing-covers are 

 ten black spots, alternately three 



/'^^ ^HRV ^^^^^ ^^^^ ^'^ ^"^^•'^ transverse rows. 

 ''Wx ^^^^ nine-spotted ladybug, Coccinella 

 ^ IBr-'V I novemnotata (Fig. 173), is of about 

 '-^(■jj^^j^ I the same size, but broadly oval and 

 V very convex, and yellowish or orange. 

 The thorax is black, with an irregu- 

 lar yellowish margin in front. The 

 wing covers bear a black central 

 spot on the s-uture in front, and four spots in diamond-shaped arrange- 

 ment on each wing-cover. The larvae are elongate, marked with black, 

 yellow, and red, and bear rows of small tubercles and short, stiff hairs. 



Fi(i. 174. The Common Ladybug, Megilla 

 maculata. Length about three sixteenths 

 inch. 



