294 REPORT OF THE COMMISSIONER OF AGRICULTURE. 



teeu small black spots. The tlioras is black, witli a light yellow mar- 

 gin, and two lines of the same color a])i)roaching a V in shai)e. Hippo- 

 dcmiia maculata (Plate XII, iBg. 5) is pink in color, with ten large black 

 spots on the Aving-covers, of which two are upon the middle line. The 

 thorax is pink, with two large black spots, and the head is pink, with 

 black eyes. It is smaller than the last named species. Coccinella vemista 

 (Plate XII, fig. 9) is larger and broader. It is pink in color, with ten 

 large black spots upon the wing-covers, of which the hind two blend into 

 each other across the middle line. The inner middle spots are shaped like 

 inverted commas. The thorax is pink, with lour black spots, of which 

 the two hinder ones meet across the middle line to form a V. Ghiloco- 

 rus hivulnerus, Muls. (the twice-stabbed lady-bird), is hemispherical in 

 form, and shiny black in color. A little in front of the middle of each 

 wing-cover is an irregular bright red spot. The thorax is black, with a 

 whitish border, and the head is whitish, with black eyes. 



That these lady-birds destroy many eggs and newly hatched worms 

 of the cotton-moth there can be no doubt. Mr. Trelease reports : 



I have seen but one insect destroying tlie eggs of the Aletia, viz, the larva of one of 

 the lady-hirds {Hippodamia convergens). This was on the '2()th of August. The larva 

 ■was searching tlie lower surface of a leaf, apparently for Aphides, when it encountered 

 an Aletia egg, which it immediately bit with its mandibles ; but, as if disliking its taste, 

 it left the egg uneaten and passed on. Later, I saw this same larva bite another egg, 

 and this, too, was left without farther disturbance, but of course both eggs were killed. 

 Thougli many hours were spent in looking for further attacks upon the eggs of Aletia, 

 the difficulties necessarily attendant upon such observations prevented me from seeing 

 any more. From the actions and known proclivities of the lady-birds known as Hip- 

 podamia convergens, H, maculata, Coccinella nmnda, and C. 9-notata, all of which are 

 found in abundance on cotton plants, and of Chilocorus bivuhierus, one adult of which 

 was seen searching the leaves of cotton, I suspect that they all destroy these eggs 

 more or less commonly. 



In Dr. Phares's report an unknown enemy of the cotton-worm was 

 spoken of. Concerning this insect, in a later letter, Dr. Phares says : 



In my report upon the cotton-infesting insects made last autumn, in that portion in 

 which mention is made of insect enemies of the Aletia, one is referred to and obscurely 

 figured on paper. I find that my sou had drawn it separately and distinctly, and it 

 proved to be a Coccinella or Hipjjodamia. We are both of the oiJinion that it is the 

 larva of Coccinella novem-notata, so abundant on the cotton plant. 



In his report, Dr. Phares speaks of these larvae as feeding upon the 

 chrysalides of Aletia. This might seem at variance with the well-known 

 habits of these larvae (feeding, as they do generally, upon smaller in- 

 sects, or, at all events, upon insects of but slightly larger size than 

 themselves), to attack so large an object as the chrysahs of the cotton- 

 worm ; but Mr. Glover has placed on record a similar instance. He says: 



The perfect lady-bird also destroys Aphides, but not in such numbers as their larvae 

 in which state it also destroys the chrysalis of the bulferlly {Argyunis cohimbina) seen 

 so often in the cotton fields. I have rej)eatedly observed thorn in Georgia killing the 

 chrysalides of this buttertiy, which hung suspended from the fence-rails and on the 

 under side of the boughs of trees and shrubs. It appears to attack the chrysalis 

 chiefly when soft and just emerged from the caterpillar skin. It is in this state that 

 these wandering larvae attack it, and, biting a hole in the skin, feed greedily upon 

 the green juice whicli exudes from the wound. Sometimes, however, it becomes a 

 victim to its own rapacity, for the juice of the chrysalis drying up in the heat of the 

 sun quickly forms an adhesive substance in which the larva is caught, and thus 

 detained until it perishes. 



It is probable, however, that the destroying of the cotton-worm chrys- 

 alis by lady-bird larvae is only of exceptional occurrence. In addition 

 to the evidence already given, Mr. J. H. Krancher of Millheim, Tex., in- 

 forms us that the lady -birds destroy the eggs of the cotton-moth, and 

 Dr. E. H. Anderson mentions them among the cotton-worm enemies. 



