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(Coccineila seftempunctata). Both as larvse and adults 

 Lady Birds devour great numbers of Aphides and Scale 

 Insects , and for this reason they should never be 

 destroyed. The females deposit their eggs as a rule on 

 Aphid infested plants so* that their larvae may not have 

 far to wander for their food supply. The Beetles are 

 all very similar in shape and are mostly black and red, 

 or black and yellow in colour. They hibernate during 

 the winter beneath bark of trees, under rubbish and in 

 outhouses, etc. In the following spring they lay their 

 cream-coloured eggs closely packed together in groups. 

 The larvae are black or leaden-coloured, marked as a rule 

 with yellow or orange. They crawl freely about the 

 plants and consume great numbers of Aphides and other 

 Insects. The pupae are attached to the upper or under- 

 sides of the leaves and are broad black objects marked 

 with cream-colour or yellow. The adult Lady Birds 

 appear early in summer and are common objects of the 

 field and garden throughout the season. It is note- 

 worthy that the destructive Scale Insect I eery a -pure ha si 

 which devastated the orange groves of California 

 has been almost entirely destroyed and checked by the 

 importation into America of an Australian Lady Bird 

 Novius cardinalis. The Scale Insect has thus remained 

 permanently controlled, and the ~N ovhis Beetle is now a 

 regular resident in California. The orange Scale Insect 

 has been controlled by a similar measure in Florida, New 

 Zealand, Portugal, Cape Colony, Formosa, Egypt, France, 

 and other countries. HOVERER FLIES belong to the family 

 of the Syrphidae, They are often brilliantly coloured, 

 being black with yellow bands, and have the appearance 

 of small Wasps. They hover in the air, remaining 

 stationary, except for their vibrating wings, over one spot 

 for several minutes and then, darting away suddenly, 

 hover again over a fresh spot. They only fly in sunshine, 

 and rest on leaves and flowers in dull and wet weather; 

 they feed mainly upon nectar. Most species of Hoverer 

 Flies lay their eggs among colonies of Aphides, and 

 their maggot-like larvae on emerging feed voraciously 

 upon the latter. When fully fed the pup>ae are to be 

 found enclosed in membraneous puparium on the leaves 

 and stems of plants close to where the larvae lived. The 

 greater number of the members of this family are, there- 

 fore, beneficial Insects. 



