190 
darker; apical and sub-apical lines very prom- 
inent. Expanse five inches. 
Mature larva green, with a black stripe on 
either side of the head, a black patch on the first 
segment, lateral greenish-yellow bands at the 
junction of each segment and a stigmatical stripe 
of. the same color. The stigmatz are all black 
except the first and last which are orange-yellow. 
The body is covered with yellowish dots and has 
a series of short black lines above the lateral 
bands. Transformation subterranean. 
Pupa dark brown, with a long, arched, detached 
tongue case. 
Food plants : 
ground cherry. 
Potato, tomato, stramonium and 

Lady Birds. 
Lady Bird, Lady Bird, 
Fly away home; 
* Your house is on fire 
And your children all burned. 
How few there are who have not repeated 
these few simple lines in childhood’s happy hours, 
yet how little many of us knew, or I might say 
know as to their habits or the number of their 
species ; whether they were useful or otherwise, 
in fact, what was their mission in life. We be- 
come so accustomed to looking at everything 
superficially, that we seldom stop to examine into 
the details of the life history of our little friends 
or enemies, although could we but realize before- 
hand, the wealth of information and amusement 
to be gleaned from a better knowledge of the 
smaller children of nature, how eagerly we 
would cultivate their acquaintance. 
Of this family, Coccenelide, we have, according 
to the latest Check List (Henshaw’s,) in America, 
north of Mexico, no less than twenty-four Genera, 
containing one hundred and forty species with 
nineteen varieties and three that are doubtful. 
In both the larval and adult states they are 
carniverous, living exclusively on other insects 
in their various stages. The common idea 
amongst those who know a little about them, is 
that they live entirely on Aphidw or plant lice. 
Such is not the case. This summer I had unusu- 
ally good opportunities to watch the habits of 
some members of the family, such as Anatis 15- 
punctata, Oliv. Megilla maculata De G., Hippo- 
damia glacialis Fab., H. convergens Gueér., H. 
parenthesis Say, Coccinella trifasciata Linn. C. 
novem-notata //bst., C. transversoguttata Hab., C. 
sanguinea Linn., Adalia frigida Sehn., A. bi- 
punctata Linn., and Chilocorus bivulneras Muls. 
I found that although the plant lice were their 
favorite food, they did not by any means confine 
themselves to that diet, when pressed (even 
ORNITHOLOGIST 
[Vol. 11--No. 12 
slightly) by hunger. At such times they would 
attack much larger game, and even the smaller 
members of their own species. It was nothing 
unusual to see a large larva holding up a smaller 
one and extracting its juices, and I have fre- 
quently seen the mature insect devour another 
that had just emerged from the pupa case. One 
case in particular impressed itself on my memory. 
A friend of mine informed me that he had 
located a fair-sized green worm under the cap- 
piece of a fence, but as it showed evidence of an 
intention to transform and consequently would 
be likely to remain there, and as he knew that I 
would be passing the place a few hours later, he 
decided not to disturb it. Of course, I was anx- 
ious to secure the specimen for my vivarium, but 
on reaching the place I found that I was doomed 
to disappointment. <A large larva of A. 15-punc- 
tata had attacked itand was enjoying a nice tooth- 
some repast from my desired victim. When I 
found that it was only a cabbage-worm, Pieris 
rapze, I did not feel the loss and the information 
I had gained would have more than repaid me 
for the loss of a much finer specimen. 
I reared quite a number of Coccinelide, both 
from the eggs and larvee, but was not very suc- 
cessful in getting them to color well. The ma- 
jority of them, after completing their last trans- 
formation, died while still quite light colored. 
CYANIDE. 
—___$_<—_—_—_ 
Winter Work. 
BY L. E. HOOD. 
As winter approaches, the young collector is 
apt to consider the season’s collecting at an end 
and will begin to classify his insects and arrange 
for exchanges. This is well enough in a way, 
but there is no reason for postponing your col- 
lecting, for many good species can be secured in 
the cold weather. 
Of course, species will be fewer and hard to 
find, but if you are careful you can enlarge your 
collection by searching among fallen leaves and 
in moss, when the snow will permit, under the 
bark and in the wood of partly dead trees, while 
boards and trunks of fallen trees often shelter 
beetles. 
The sieve may be used to advantage in securing 
the small species found in moss and among the 
leaves, and at all times of the year is one of the 
most practical appliances known to the collector 
of Coleoptera, and can be easily made by tying a 
V shaped bag of fine woven cloth to a sieve with 
moderately coarse meshes; by putting in a few 
handfuls of leaves and moss and shaking the 
