LADY-BIRDS. 271 



translucent, so as to give them a horny aspect. They are pro- 

 fusely covered with punctures. The elytra are " puncto-striate," 

 i.e. have parallel rows of punctures drawn along them from 

 the base to the tip. In the specimen represented above, the 

 colour is black, but there are several examples in the British 

 Museum which are brown. In size, as well as in colour, this is 

 an exceedingly variable insect, some specimens being so small 

 that they hardly seem to belong to the same species. 



The family of the Coccinellidre is a very familiar one to us 

 under the popular name of Lady-birds. The name of Coccinella 

 is a diminutive of a Latinized Greek word, signifying " a round 

 grain," or "kernel," and is given to these Beetles on account of 

 the rounded shape of their bodies. 



They are very useful creatures, and in this country are beyond 

 all price, their larvas feeding entirely upon the aphides, which 

 occasionally do so much damage to the crops, and would do so 

 much more, but for the Lady-birds. 



There is a great similarity between all the Coccinellidae, so 

 that it is always easy to distinguish them from other Beetles. 



In consequence of this similarity I have only selected one 

 exotic species as an example of them all. 

 This is Synonycha granclis, an insect which 

 is found in China and Japan. It is ex- 

 ceedingly variable in colour, the ground hue 

 being of any shade between yellow and 

 brown. The marks upon it, which do not 

 vary, are black. A North Indian species, 

 Synunycha spilota, is red, with a large black 

 cross-shaped mark and one or two black 

 spots; and Synonycha duodecim-punctata FlG . 135 ._ Syilonycha ^ndis. 

 is yellow, with six large black spots on (Yeiiow, -with Mack spots.) 

 each elytron. These marks are so large that 

 they occupy almost the entire surface, and leave only a narrow 

 hexagonal network of yellow. 



Next come the Endomychides, which may easily be distin- 

 guished from the Erotylides by the antennas, which are longer 

 than the head and thorax, and by the shape of the maxillary 

 palpi, which never possess the hatchet-shaped last joint, but are 



