10 INSECT PESTS OF FARM, GARDEN AND ORCHARD 



beetle is about one-fourth of an inch long, with black head and 

 body. The wing-covers are orange-yellow marked with nine 

 black spots four on each side and one on the central suture. 

 The larva has been fancied to resemble a miniature alligator; 

 it is nearly twice as long as wide, almost black, marked with 

 bluish and orange spots, and has long legs, which carry it around 

 quite rapidly. The beetles hibernate during the winter and 

 come forth in the spring and lay their eggs wherever the young 

 will be able to find food when they hatch. When the larva 

 has satisfied its ravenous appetite and become full grown it 

 fastens itself to a leaf or twig, seemingly by its tail, if such 



Fiu. 1. The nine-spotted ladybird (Coccinella novemnotata) , and its 

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



a term might be allowed, transforms to the pupa, and in a week 

 or ten days the adult beetle emerges from the pupal skin. This 

 life-cycle is repeated several times during the summer season, 

 before the fall brood enters winter quarters. 



Another very common form among plant-lice on garden truck 

 is the little Adalia bipunctata, or Two-spotted Ladybird. It is 

 slightly smaller than the preceding, and with only one black spot 

 on each wing-cover (Fig. 2) . 



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 



