THE RED SPIDER ON COTTON. 57 
There is a larval period of 24 days, requiring 4 instars of 7, 3, 4. 
and 10 days, respectively, and a pupal period of 6 days, altogether 
embracing an interval of 30 days from hatching to the issuance of the 
adult. 
Taste XXV.—Feeding capacity of Megilla maculata for red-spider adults, Batesburg. 
S.C. (Eggs hatched Sept. 11, 1914.) 
Mites. | Mites. Mites. 
ERE 5 en de ECD ay <0 2 seem acs 2 SOA E20th Gay 2s 22 cc eee eee ee 218 
El Cle Se een Sie alee anaes a2 bn dayne ee eee 106 | 2ist day----- 55 See SER 206 
hl: Ud nid pt So Sa a ot re Oo) atlnrday, 22 Gms rast ObR 220) day: 2.2: Sake ee ey ee 224 
ATER eg ie oe Lee Se SE 17 | 14th day (molted) .....--- MOM 2SC: Cary. sn eee 125 
SUELT: CIDA ea ae ae a eee PA ala SUG ayaa = ae eee 83 | 24th day (pupated). 
SUID ia ee es Zon pl GtiMGdayencsa- Se oe see ne 97 
7th day (molted)..--..--.--- Sia este an C6 ley a eee oe Marra ee Be Let Total consumption... 2,011 
RRC DV oe he Satie ney See Me ASO US UhG Many so aes yee seems ce 135 | Average daily con- 
uMdayi= 228. SEES Od Rl9 Ghar ai eee as eee = eres 156 Sumption 3422 87. 4 
10th day (molted).-.--.-.-.--- 75 | 
From Table X XV it may be seen that 1 individual in 23 feeding 
days ate 2,011 adult mites, thus averaging 87.4 mites per day. There 
are probably 3 or 4 generations of this coccinellid in a season in the 
Southeast. 
Fig. 18.—The convergent lady-beetle (Hippodamia convergens), an enemy of the red spider: a, Adult; 6, 
pupa; c, larva. Muchenlarged. (Chittenden.) 
Hippodamia convergens Guérin.—This species (fig. 18) is perhaps 
the commonest of the ladybirds in the Southeast. We have seen it 
on a few occasions busily engaged in consuming the members of mite 
colonies. We have conducted no special tests with this beetle, either 
for life history or control efficiency, since we do not consider that it 
normally spends much of its time in the quest of red spiders. A new- 
born larva of this species on one occasion ate 27 adult mites in 24 hours. 
As compared with Miss Palmer’s (1914) life-history records for this 
species, we obtained 3 days in 2 cases for the egg period and 7 and 
8 days in 2 cases for the pupal stage, as against 3 days and 4 or 5 days, 
respectively, for her experiments. The fact that the summer adults 
of the larger lady-beetles live from 2 to 4 months (as established by 
Miss Palmer, 1914) makes each individual potentially of much greater 
economic importance. This species deposits about 400 eggs. 
Coccinella novemnotata Herbst.—Next to the preceding species the 
