AMERICAN POMOLOGY. 



to them in many countries, which indicates that a glimmer- 

 ing idea prevailed respecting their usefulness. The Ger- 

 mans call them the MarienJcaefer^ or Lady-beetles, of the 

 Virgin Mary. The French call them Vaches de Dieu, 

 the Lord's cows, and our own children are all familiar 

 with the nursery rhyme about the Lady-birds. These in- 

 sects find their way to trees or plants that are infested 

 with their proper food, the Aphides. 



These beetles hide under the leaves that cluster in shel- 

 tered nooks about or between the large roots of forest 

 trees, where they can be found on any mild winter day, 

 and may be carried to the green-house or to the window 

 plants that are infested with plant-lice. They will not 

 only devour these pests, but will soon lay eggs that hatch 

 and produce the larvae which are so voracious as to clear 

 the plants in a short time. A little attention to the habits 

 of these insects may spare us great losses from the plant- 

 lice. 



ORTHOPTERA. GRASSHOPPERS. 



The insects of this order have an imperfect transforma- 

 tion. The eggs hatch at once into young insects, that re- 

 semble their parents in form and habits, excepting that 

 they do not get their wings till they approach the adult 

 state. The young consume food voraciously, and the per- 

 fect insects are not only still more hungry, but, having in- 

 creased powers of locomotion, they are more widely de- 

 structive. These are the true Locusts, and though chiefly 

 injurious to the farm and garden, infesting the meadows 



