31 
clean, with the exception of the numerous red spots produced by the- 
Lady-bird, for they had subsisted on their own eggs during their confine- 
ment. As soon as the female Lady-bird was among the scales she be- 
came quiet, stopped, and deposited an egg upon the twig. As soon as 
this was done she turned around and devoured the same, which took 
her about a half a minute. A few moments were spent in cleaning her- 
self and then another egg was brought forth and eaten. After this and 
another wash she attacked and devoured a half grown scale. This was 
eaten into from the back, very quietly at first, yet in a little time she 
became lively, almost furious, tearing the scale off from its hold by the 
beak and turning it up and down in the air with the mouth-parts, as- 
sisting in this with the anterior legs. In about one minute this was 
devoured and nothing but the empty skin left, after which she went to 
work, business-like, and deposited eggs quietly, sitting at rest upon the 
scales, and every few minutes thrusting an egg in between or generally 
under them. A very large scale was lifted with the posterior legs and 
the egg thrust beneath. All the strong attempts at love affairs by the 
lively and not hungry male were resisted. I was careful to see that 
twigs with nothing but Icerya on them were selected for food; at least 
no young larvae could be observed on them ; yet the second day after 
the Coccinellids were placed in with them, young larvae were seen, and 
they came out so fast that within a few days my jar was a living mass 
of them. 
On February 22 a few of the larvae were full grown and settled down 
in a quiet place, fastening the ends of their bodies down with a thick 
and sticky substance and remaining in this way, becoming shorter and 
stouter, for four days. On the 25th the first pupa was observed; from 
this the mature beetle hatched in the evening of the 28th. Another 
appeared the following day. Again, on March 3, a pair of the bred 
Lady-birds were placed together, with clean food, and the next day, 
March 4, eggs were observed which hatched on the 8th. This I could 
not carry through, as the food began to dry up ; in fact, on March 18, 
many grown and hungry larvae were devouring each other in this jar, 
and even the mother of them, which was still living, was noticed devour- 
ing one of her young, a larva. Three times, at intervals, this pair were 
observed in copulation. Eleven beetles of this last brood reached matu- 
rity, having had nothing to feed upon but one supply of scales that 
had already been boxed up for eight days, the beetles having been born 
and forced to live upon one another. Taking four days for the eggs to 
hatch, about eight days for the larvae to grow, three days until pupa- 
ting, and four days more for the pupa to emerge, this would only make 
nineteen days from the egg to the mature insect, providing the weather 
is warm. No doubt we will see cases where, in less time than this, 
all the stages are gone through at Los Angeles in hot weather, and we 
may expect at least fifteen broods annually ot this insect to two of 
Icerya. 
