JBtcttmtarj? at 9futmatctf ^ature. 137 



great service : its larva has a rather dis- 

 agreeable appearance ; it is of a long oval 

 shape, with a pointed tail, of a black colour, 



LADY BIRD, WITH ITS I.ARVA AND POPA. 

 (COCOINELLA SEPTEMPDNCTATAJ 



with red and white specks, and a rough sur- 

 face ; it changes to a short, blackish, oval 

 chrysalis, spotted with red, and which gives 

 birth to its beautiful inmate in the months 

 of May and June. 



The different species of Coccinellse are very 

 numerous ; they are generally divided ac- 

 cording to the ground-colour of their elytra, 

 which are either red with black, yellow with 

 black, black with red, or yellow with white 

 spots. One of the most beautiful of the 

 English species is the Coccinella octodecim- 

 pwii-.tata of Linnscus, or the eighteen-spotted 

 Lady-bird, which is of a bright yellow with 

 numerous black specks, and little more than 

 half the size of the common red kind above 

 described. 



Most people who are familiar with our 

 South-eastern coasts have had opportunities 

 of witnessing the flight of extraordinary 

 swarms of Lady-birds during the summer or 

 autumnal months. The most recent instance 

 of this which we have seen publicly noticed 

 is the following : " On Friday, August 13. 

 1847, the whole of the coast around Southend 

 was visited by one of the most numerous 

 flights of insects on record. They consisted 

 of at least five species of lady-bird, and they 

 came in such dense numbers, as for miles 

 along the coast to resemble a swarm of bees 

 during hiving. The sea destroyed countless 

 millions of them, the grass and hedge-rows, 

 and every crevice that afforded shelter from 

 the wind, were coloured with their numbers, 

 and for many miles it was impossible to walk, 

 without crushing numbers beneath the tread. 

 The insects evidently came from the east, 

 the wind having veered round to that point 

 during the night. Every true friend of 

 agriculture, however, hails the appearance 

 of these insects, as they are well-known to 

 be the destroyers Of Aphides, a race of flies 

 the most injurious to vegetation. We found, 

 on inquiry, that this phenomenon was not 

 confined to the above mentioned locality ; 

 for on the same day Kamsgate, Margate, 

 Brighton, and the coasts of the adjacent 

 neighbourhoods were similarly visited by 

 swarms of these Aphidivorous insects, which 

 in many places were swept off the public 

 walks, and speedily consigned to a watery 

 tomb." 



Dr. Thaddeus Harris has the following 



sensible remarks on the valuable services of 

 the Coccinellce, when speaking of the " re- 

 doubtable enemies " which " seern expressly 

 created to diminish the numbers" of the 

 Aphides, or plant-lice. "These lice-destroyers 

 are of three sorts. The first are the young 

 or larvae of the hemispherical beetles fa- 

 miliarly known by the name of lady-birds, 

 and scientifically by that of Coccinellce. 

 These little beetles are generally yellow or 

 red, with black spots, or black, with white, 

 red, or yellow spots ; there are many kinds 

 of them, and they are very common and 

 plentiful insects, and are generally diffused 

 among plants. They live both in the per- 

 fect and young state, upon plant-lice, and 

 hence their services are very considerable. 

 Their young are small flattened grubs of a 

 bluish or blue-back colour, spotted usually 

 with red or yellow, and furnished. with six 

 legs near the fore-part of the body. They 

 are hatched from little yellow eggs, laid in 

 clusters among the plant-lice, so that they 

 find themselves at once within reach of their 

 prey, which, from their superior strength, 

 they are enabled to seize and slaughter in 

 preat numbers. There are some of these 

 lady-birds of a very small size, and blackish 

 colour, sparingly clothed with short hairs, 

 and sometimes with a yellow spot at the end 

 of the wing-covers, whose young are clothed 

 with short tufts or flakes of the most delicate 

 white down. These insects belong to the 

 genus Scymnus, which means a lion's whelp, 

 and they well merit such a name, for their 

 young, in proportion to their size, are as 

 sanguinary and ferocious as the most savage 

 beast of prey. I have often seen one of 

 these little tufted animals preying upon the 

 plant-lice, catching and devouring, with the 

 greatest ease, lice nearly as large as its own 

 body, one after another, in rapid succession, 

 without apparently satiating its hunger or 

 diminishing its activity." M. Mulsant, of 

 Lyons, has published a volume on the Coc- 

 cinelliflce of France, most of which are also 

 found in tliis country : a monograph of the 

 whole group by the same learned entomolo- 

 gist is in the press. 



COCCUS. A genus of Hemipterous in- 

 sects, including the Cochineal insect (Coccus 

 cacti.) In this remarkable genus the 

 males are much smaller than the females, 

 and are furnished with wings, of which the 

 females are destitute. The Cocci are found 

 on the leaves and bark of various plants : 

 hence they become injurious to many ex- 

 otics in our hothouses and conservatories. 

 One of the most common of these is the 

 Coccus adonidum, a small oval-shaped in- 

 sect of a pale rose-colour, slightly convex 

 above, with the body divided into many 

 transverse segments projecting sharply on 

 the sides : it has six short legs, and the whole 

 insect appears more or less covered with a 

 fine white powder. When the female is full 

 of eggs, she ceases to feed, and remaining 

 fixed to one spot, envelops herself in a fine 

 white fibrous cotton-like substance, and soon 

 afterwards dies : the young, which are 

 hatched under the body of the parent insect, 

 preceding from it in great numbers, and dis- 



