DISEASES OF THE COTTON PLANT. 235 
alarmed it is removed, it immediately resmnes the same 
attitude and spot, only darting off every now and theii to 
chase some other intruding fly from its own peculiar do- 
main, over which it appears to imagine it possesses abso- 
lute sway. 
These insects are of essential aid to the farmers and 
planters, as their larvae materially diminish the numbers of 
lice which infest vegetation. 
The Ladt-Bied. — (Ooccinella?) 
The lady-bird is a most valuable auxiliary to the cot- 
ton planter, as it destroys the cotton louse, or aphis, by 
thousands, and is most plentiful where they abound, always 
being busy at the work of destroying them ; and, as such, 
I consider it one of the most beneficial of insects to the 
planter. 
The larva is a small, bluish black, alligator-looking in- 
sect, of about the fourth of au inch in length, spotted with 
a few orange marks on the sides and backs. Whenever 
one of them is seen among a colony of the aphides, the 
planter may safely calculate that in a few days the number 
of the lice will be greatly diminished. The larva, when 
hungry, seizes an aphis, and immediately commences eating 
him alive. This savory repast being finished, it eagerly 
hunts about until it has secured another victim, and thus 
completely destroys all the others upon the leaf. When 
about to change into the pupa, it fastens itself by the tail 
to a leaf ; the skin of the back splitting open, a small 
hump-backed, black and orange colored pupa makes its ap- 
pearance, which, although furnished with the rudiments 
of wings and legs, is incapable of locomotion or feeding, 
but remains adhering to the leaf, with the dried-up skin of 
