OF THE fa:i:i and gakdek. 287 



notafa). The young Ladies were more voracious tlian 

 their parents, and they were not at all shy or ashamed 

 of their immense capacity for eating, but devoured victim 

 after victim before our eyes with the utmost gusto. They 

 did not at all resemble their mothers, but looked more 

 like bright-colored little lizards than they did like their 

 respected parents. They were dressed in blended colors 

 of red, yellow and black, and after they had eaten 

 untold numbers of Aphides, and had come to their full 

 growth, they hung themselves fast to the under side of 

 twigs and leaves, where they assumed the pupae state 

 within their old, cast-ofE dresses, all wrinkled as they 

 were, and split open in the backs ; but we suppose they 

 served as a sort of protection to the little chrysalids. 



While the Lady-birds were clearing the plum tree we 

 noticed a small shrub of English Hawthorn with curled 

 leaves, and beneath each leaf were immense numbers of 

 Aphides, doing their best to pump 

 out the sap. So we transferred a 

 dozen or more of the young Ladies, l^\ ^ ^^^j^ 

 together with their parents, from the 

 Plum tree to the Hawthorn, and in ' 6 a 



less than twenty-four hours they Fig. 168.— ladt-bug in 



1 Til 1 1 nil T J 1 • J DIFFERENT STAGES. 



cleared the shrub, ihese Lady- birds ^^ l^^^ ; », Pupa; 

 are not only enemies to Plant-lice; "• Beetle. 



they devour several other kinds of noxious insects. Five 

 or six species are known to prey upon the Colorado 

 Potato-beetle. The eggs of the Lady-bird very much 

 resemble those of the Potato-beetle, the clusters are less 

 in size, but the eggs are of the same color, and only a 

 little smaller, so if we would preserve one of our bene- 

 factors it is necessary to look close when destroying 

 eggs of the Potato-beetle, and not mistake a friend for 

 an enemy. 



Beetles are not the only beneficial insects by an}- means ; 

 by far the greater number are found among the Hymen- 



