THE BEAN LADYBIRD. 7 
braska, and Oklahoma, and later in southern California. There may 
even exist a wider distribution than is now known in Texas, since the 
localities inserted on the map plainly show such a possibility. 
LIFE HISTORY AND HABITS. 
SEASONAL HISTORY. 
In the Arkansas Valley of Colorado, and in regions having a 
similar climate, two generations or " broods " of the bean ladybird 
develop annually. 
The winter is passed in the adult stage, the beetles hibernating 
under tufts of grass, weeds, old vines, rubbish, and similar material, 
in or about the fields and gardens in which they developed. The 
overwintered beetles emerge from their hibernating quarters about 
the middle of June and, after a brief interval of feeding, mate and 
begin to deposit eggs. 
The first eggs hatch in about a week and the adults of the first 
generation develop shortly after the middle of July. After an in- 
terval of a week or ten days eggs are deposited by the first genera- 
tion of beetles and from these the first adults of the second genera- 
tion develop. This occurs during the latter part of August or early 
September. A portion of the adults of the first generation and all 
those of the second generation deposit no eggs until June of the fol- 
lowing year. The beetles go into hibernation during the last days of 
September and the first of October and, as previously stated, remain 
dormant until about the middle of June of the succeeding year. 
It is somewhat remarkable that the beetles remain in hibernation 
during the last days of May and the first half of June when high 
temperatures, from 90° to 95° F., often prevail. 
The egg-laying period of the overwintered beetles, which includes 
individuals of both the first and second generations, extends from 
shortly after the middle of June until about the 1st of August, 
although occasionally some of these beetles live and deposit eggs 
throughout the summer. The egg-laying period of the beetles of the 
first generation which deposit eggs during the first season extends 
from soon after the middle of July until well into September. 
Reproduction, then, continues from about the middle of June until 
the beans are destroyed by killing frosts in late September or early 
October. The insects usually cause a maximum amount of damage 
during July and August. The larvae, especially those more than 
half grown, are voracious feeders and, as a rule, cause vastly more 
injury than do the beetles. 
REPRODUCTION AND DEVELOPMENT. 
The life-history studies of the bean ladybird were conducted in 
Colorado in an open-air insectary at Rocky Ford. The insects were 
confined in cloth-covered battery jars and fed on the foliage of 
