10 INSECT PESTS OF FARM, GARDEN AND ORCHARD 



Several other species, in the genus Hippodamia, are very 

 useful, and among them the Convergent Ladybird (Hippo- 

 damia convergens) is one of the best known. Its name is received 

 from two white dashes on the black thorax, which converge 

 posteriorly. The thorax has also a white margin, and there are 

 thirteen black dots on its orange wing-covers. These larvae 



v 



FIG. 3. The convergent ladybird (Hippodamia convergens): a, adult; 6, pupa; 

 c, larva; enlarged. (After Chittenden, U. S. Dept. Agr.) 



and beetles are very common among the plant-lice on melon- 

 vines, and are an important factor in their extermination. They 

 have also been noted for eating the black peach aphis and many 

 other plant-lice. 



A form which is often very abundant among plant-lice on corn 

 is the Spotted Ladybird (Megilla maculata). The head, thorax, 



FIG. 4. The spotted ladybird (Megilla maculata): a, larva; b, pupa; c, adult; 

 enlarged. (After Chittenden, U. S. Dept. Agr.) 



and wing-covers are a dark pink, with two black spots on the 

 thorax and ten on the wing-covers. Such numbers of these 



