ANIMALS THAT DESTROY INSECTS 



177 



FIG. 102. Dragon fly. 



Lady Bugs are small beetles, with bright-colored, scaly 

 wings. They feed on plant lice scales and the eggs and 

 larvae of other insects. They 

 are among the most valuable 

 of insect destroyers, and 

 should be welcomed in the 

 house and in the garden. 



Dragon flies are beautiful 

 insects with gauzy wings. 

 They may be seen about 

 ponds and streams in the 

 summer time. They are the 

 great enemies of the mos- 

 quitoes, the gnats, and the flies. They dart through the 



pupa. In . this state, it eats nothing. If it is a butterfly or moth, it wraps 

 itself in a silken covering or wraps a leaf about itself, and may stay in this 

 condition for some months. At last, however, it breaks through its cover- 

 ing and becomes a fully developed insect. This, its last state before death, is 

 called the imago state. The life history of each kind of insect varies some- 

 what, but almost all insects pass through the forms egg, larva, pupa, and imago. 

 G. & M. Ag. 12. 



FfG. 103. Larva and eggs of 

 dragon fly. 



the 



