COLEOPTERA 113 



few insects of early memory with which we were on 

 friendly terms. Many harmless superstitions and rhymes 

 describing them, some dating back hundreds of years 

 and originating in widely different localities, are connected 

 with the lady-bugs.* 



Lady-bug larvae are soft-bodied, dull-colored with 

 brighter spots, rather stout and with pointed abdomens. 

 They are found in colonies of aphids and scales, often with 

 the adults. Eggs and pupae may be found in the same 

 situations. Some few species of lady-bugs feed on foliage. 

 One attacks beans, another squash vines. They are not 

 important as pests of these plants and ordinary control 

 measures easily keep them in check. 



Cucujidce and Dermestidce are of interest mainly as 

 destroyers of stored products of various kinds. The 

 former are slender, very much flattened species, and the 

 common pests belonging to the family are of very small 

 size. The Saw-toothed Grain-beetle is the most abundant 

 and destructive species. It attacks stored grain and grain 

 products, and also such foods as dried raisins and cur- 

 rants. The Dermestids are small, stout-bodied insects 

 of dark colors or checkered with red, white and black. 

 The Buffalo-moth, attacking carpets and other products of 

 wool, feathers and fur, is the larva of one of these beetles 

 (Anthrenus scrophularice) , and another member of the same 

 genus attacks insects in collections and other museum 



* "Maikatt 

 Flug weg 

 Stuff weg 



Bring me morgen goet wedder med." 



Folk rhyme from the Netherlands. Thorpe, "Northern Myth- 

 ology." 



"May-cat, fly away, hasten away, 

 Bring me to-morrow good weather with you." 



