44 INJURIOUS AND USEFUL INSECTS 



of the terminal joint. The feelers are slightly clubbed. There 

 are some forty species of lady-bird in this country, and, at 

 least, two thousand in the world. One of our commonest 

 species (Coccinella septempunctata) is red, with seven black 

 spots upon the wing-covers. The beetle flies well, but creeps 

 slowly. Like the larva, it feeds upon aphids, but is much 

 less voracious than in its earlier state. When alarmed, the 

 beetle withdraws its legs, and exudes from the joints a yellow 



fluid, which some naturalists de- 

 scribe as having an unpleasant 

 smell and taste ; the larva can 

 emit a similar fluid from the 

 warts upon its skin. 



Lady-birds are of great ser- 

 vice to man in keeping down 

 aphids, scale-insects, mites, and 

 other pests. Where the aphis 

 abounds, lady - birds abound 

 also ; they are very prolific, and 

 produce two or more broods 

 in a single season ; under 

 favourable circumstances only 

 one month is required to de- 

 velop the beetle from the egg. 

 Vast swarms of lady-birds have 

 been seen to cover the ground in the neighbourhood of 

 hop-grounds, in seasons when the hop-fly or aphis is unusually 

 plentiful. 



F'g- 37- — Seven-spot lady-bird 

 (Coccinella septempunctata). X 6. 



10. THE GARDEN-WEEVIL (Otiorhynchus) 



The weevils and their near allies form a very numerous 

 group of beetles, which are easily recognised, and not closely 

 related to any other family. The head is drawn out into 

 a long slender snout (rostrum) in front of the eyes, and upon 

 the extremity of this snout the mouth-parts are placed. The 

 feelers, which are attached a little further back on the sides 

 of the snout, are elbowed, the long basal joint standing out 

 from the head at a right angle, and the succeeding joints 

 making a decided angle with the basal one. The tarsus in 



