LADY BIRDS. 165 



shades of green, and vice versd t ; but in some of these 

 Lady-birds, the same species will be red spotted with 

 black, black spotted or blotched with red, black spotted 

 with yellow, yellow spotted and barred or blotched 

 with black, and so on in infinite variety. 



We can briefly describe but one species, a very 

 common one, and then proceed to the habits of the 

 insect. 



The best-known of the British Lady-birds is the 

 common SEVEN-SPOT LADY-BIRD (Coccinella septem- 

 piinctata}, a species that derives its name from the 

 seven black spots upon the elytra. These spots are 

 exceedingly variable in size, and sometimes one or two 

 spots are absent, while there is one variety in which 

 there are no spots at all. All the Lady-birds possess 

 long and ample wings, as they have to fly to consider- 

 able distances. 



Beautiful as are the Lady-birds, it is not for their 

 beauty alone that they are valued, inasmuch as they 

 are among the greatest benefactors of civilised man, 

 and preserve many a harvest which, but for their aid, 

 would be hopelessly lost. For, in their larval state 

 they feed upon the aphides the * green blight ' or 

 ' green-fly ' of gardeners and, being exceedingly vora- 

 cious, devour vast numbers of those destructive insects. 

 Few persons would suppose, on looking at the Cocci- 

 nella larva, what was its real condition of life. It 

 looks as harmless, dull, sluggish a creature as can be 

 imagined, and much more likely to be eaten itself 

 than to eat other insects. Yet, with all this innocence 

 of aspect, it is so ruthless a destroyer of animal life, 

 that if a few of them be placed on a bush or plant 



