Zadybird fteetle 



As I walked through my apple tree community 

 this morning, a little two-spot ladybird beetle lit on 

 my hand. When I tried to pick her up, she folded 

 her stubby legs and fell to the ground, "playing 

 possum." I watched her as she lay "dead." A 

 moment later she extended her legs and flipped her- 

 self upright. Then she ran away as fast as her six 

 little feet could carry her. 



One of the best-liked of the many varieties of 

 brightly colored ladybird beetles is the "ladybug" 

 who wears a red dress decorated with many black 

 polka dots. Of course the male "ladybug" does, too. 



A ladybird beetle is a welcome resident in my 

 apple tree community. She and her larval offspring 

 especially are excellent exterminators of the scale 

 insects and plant lice that suck juices out of tender 

 leaves and plant stems; they do the job more effi- 

 ciently than most chemical spray solutions, and 

 they're not nearly so expensive. No wonder, then, 

 that ladybugs are now bred commercially, and are 

 sold to orchardists and vegetable growers by the 

 gallon. 



A gallon contains some 135,000 ladybirds, and 

 costs only a few dollars. And when these workers 

 are put on the job, they will control most of the 

 insect pests in a five-acre stretch of vegetation. 



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