266 INDIRECT BENEFITS DERIVED FROM INSECTS, 



of our childhood, which, as well as most of its conge- 

 ners, in the larva state feeds entirely on Aphides a ; and 

 the havoc made amongst them may be conceived from 

 the myriads upon myriads of these little interesting ani- 

 mals, which are often to be seen in years when the plant- 

 louse abounds. In 1807 the shore at Brighton and all 

 the watering-places on the south coast was literally co- 

 vered with them, to the great surprise and even alarm of 

 the inhabitants, who were ignorant that their little vi- 

 sitors were emigrants from the neighbouring hop-grounds, 

 where in their larva state each had slain his thousands 

 and tens of thousands of the Aphis, which under the 

 name of the Fly so frequently blasts the hopes of the 

 hop-grower. It is fortunate that in most countries the 

 children have taken these friendly Coccinellae under 

 their protection. In France they regard them as sacred 

 to the Virgin, and call them Vaches a Dieu, Betes de la 

 Fiergc, &c. ; and with us, commiseration for the hard 

 fate of a mother, whose " house is on fire and children 

 at home," ensures them kind treatment and liberty. 

 Even the hop-growers are becoming sensible of their 

 services, and, as I am informed, hire boys to prevent 

 birds from destroying them. If we could but discover a 

 mode of increasing these insects at will, we might not 

 only, as Dr. Darwin has suggested, clear our hot-houses 

 of Aphides by their means, but render our crops of hops 

 much more certain than they now are. Even without 



a The larvae of some species of Coccinellce feed, according to Prof. 

 D. Reich, solely on the leaves of plants ; as that of C. Merogfyphiea, 

 which eats the leaves of common heath (Erica vulgaris] after the man- 

 ner of the larvae of Lepidoptera. I suspect, however, that there is 

 some mistake in this statement. Dcr Gescttschaft naturf. Fr. in Ber- 

 lin Mag, &c. iii. 294. < 



