[21] Report of the State U.\tojwlogist. 117 



be examined, would probably prove to be identical with the species 

 which has bred, by me, from jars of pickled plums — the Drosophila 

 ampelophila, or " the pickled-fruit fly," for a notice of which, and in 

 further reply to the above inquiries, see the First Report on the Insects 

 of New York, 1882, pp. 216-221. 



Adalia bipunctata (Linn.). 



The Two-spotted Lady-Bird. 



(Ord. Coleoptera: Fam. Coccinellid^.) 



Coccinella bipunctata Linnjeus : Syst. Nat., edit. 10, 1758, p. dM, No. 2. 



The communicatipn given below is but one of many received which 

 indicate a great need of such additional knowledge of our most coiiimon 

 lady-bugs, as shall prevent their being mistaken for the carpet-beetle 

 and sharing the fate justly meted out to that destructive household 

 pest. 



I inclose in this a small box containing two specimens of a beetle 

 that has been found in large numbers in many of the dwellings of 

 this city. Those who have suffered from the ravages of the carpet- 

 bug state with great positiveness that the insect inclosed is the beetle 

 from which comes the larva that has been so destructive to carpets, 

 and it appears to be a fact that where great injury has been sustained 

 by the carpet-bug, there these beetles have been found in the 

 greatest abundance. I do not find that the specimens inclosed 

 answer to the descriptions of the carpet-beetle that have been i)ub- 

 lished in the newspapers. Most persons would say that the beetles 

 I send are lady-bugs, and I find the very same insect on plants out of 

 doors. One characteristic of these beetles is, a very disagreeable 

 odor evolved when they are handled or disturbed, and if in numbers 

 the stench is intolerable. Does this peculiarity belong to lady- 

 bugs? Written notices of the carpet-beetle state that in the warm 

 days of March and April, the animals are found in numbers on the 

 windows — such has been the case this spring in houses here. What 

 we term lady-bugs wex'e found crawling in the vicinity of the win- 

 dows. Can you tell me if the carpet-bug and the lady-bug are identical? 

 H. L. Y., Foughkeepsie, N. Y. 



The beetles received are the Adalia bipunctata (Linn.), one of the 

 " lady-birds." It is a small beetle, of a broadly 

 oval form, having the wing-covers of a dull 

 red color, each one conspicuously marked with 

 a single black spot on its center; the thorax 

 is of a cream color, with an inverted W-shaped 

 black mark; it is shown in Figure 10. So 

 far from being connected with the destructive 

 carpet-bug, it is one of our insect fi'iends, as yig. lo.— The two-spot- 

 are, with perhaps two or three exceptions, all^^^ lady-bird, Adalia 

 .,-,.,■, „ BIPUNCTATA. (After Enj- 



ot Its associated "lady-bugs. mens) 



