LADYBIRDS. 



99 



the mimosa-trees are sometimes so crowded with these splendid insects that 

 the branches bend beneath their glittering burden. Even some of our native 

 species, such as the Rose curculio, when seen under a microscope, are found 

 to be most brilliantly decorated. 



A second tribe of Coleopterous Tetramerans comprehends 

 The Wood-eaters or Xylophagi,* a race of insects specially 

 appointed to devour timber. They mostly live upon wood, in 

 which their larvae excavate galleries in all directions ; so that when 

 they become numerous, whole forests of pine and firs are de- 

 stroyed by their ravages. Some cause immense damage amongst 

 olive-trees, whilst others, the feeblest of the race, content them- 

 selves with devouring various kinds of fungi. 



As an example of these timber-borers, we give a figure of 

 The Long-horned Beetle (Prionus), one of the largest of the tribe, con- 

 spicuous alike from the beauty of its colours and the strength of its jaws. 

 (Fig. 87.) 



SECTION OF TRIMERANS. 



In the last section of the Coleoptera, the 

 Trimerans, the number of tarsal joints in all the six legs is 

 reduced to three; of these the best-known examples arc 



The Ladybirds (Coccinelld), universal 

 favourites, and as useful as they are pretty. 

 These insects are readily recognized by their 

 semi-globular shape, and by the peculiar 

 pattern of their colouring, generally black 

 spots upon a red or yellow ground, or red 

 and yellow spots upon a black ground. They 

 feed exclusively upon the plant-lice, or 

 Aphides, that infest the choicest flowers of 

 our greenhouses, and are still more hurtful 

 in the hop plantation and the garden. To 

 the destruction of these insect pests the 

 whole energies of the ladybird are devoted. 

 Its eggs, resembling groups of ninepins set 

 upright, are laid in little patches on the 

 leaves of plants: when these are hatched 

 they give birth to a larva furnished with a 

 small head and a thick but tapering body, 

 which creeps actively about the leaf by 

 means of six short legs attached to its ante- 

 rior segments (Fig. 88). Its colour is usually 

 a dark bluish grey, having black spots inter- 

 spersed with a few orange spots of larger 

 size. It riots among the Aphides like a lion FlG - SS.-LADYBIRD AND ITS STAGES. 

 among a flock of sheep, devouring them one 



, xylon, wood ; <pa.yeiv, phagein, to eat. 



72 



