[October, 
gg 8 Notes on Coccinella Dispar. 
aft of pupation, or whether they were the work of some 
caterpillar which the ladybirds had devoured, I am not sure. 
Against one enemy the pupse are not protected the larvae 
of their own species. In faCt this species— doubtless its 
congeners also — is of cannibal habits. When a laiva in its 
travels encounters a pupa, moored by its posterior extremity 
to the leaf, and unable either to fight 01 flee, it at once 
seizes the booty from behind. I watched several such cases 
through a lens, and saw distinctly the mandibles of the larva 
plunged into the body of its victim and working from side to 
side. The pupa which is thus being devoured at times 
raises its head, or moves it from side to side, until its life is 
extindt. Mr. Billups, one of our most observant entomo- 
logists, informs me that he has witnessed similar cases. 
But as his cannibal specimens were in captivity, he sus- 
pefted that possibly they might be driven to such an 
unnatural diet from the exhaustion of the supply of then- 
legitimate prey — Aphides. I am sorry that I cannot give 
the ladybirds the benefit of this doubt. I observed cases of 
cannibalism not merely in a small glass box in which I nad 
placed some larvae, but on the currant bushes where Aphides 
were swarming. Hence I fear that the Coccinellce aie deli- 
berate and habitual cannibals. It is needless to state that 
this practice must seriously compromise the multiplication 
of the species, and must especially limit its usefulness as an 
Aphis-destroyer. Whether this form of cannibalism tends 
to eliminate the strongest or the weakest memDeis of the 
species I am unable to say. T he destruction falls chiefly 
upon the progeny of those ladybirds which in each brood 
are the earliest to deposit their eggs. If such eggs, as I 
suspeCt, give rise to the finest specimens, we have here a 
phenomenon which strongly resembles a suivival of the un- 
fittest. I may add that I have never seen a mature Cocci- 
nella attacking any of the pupae of its species. This cannot 
be from mere want of appetite 01 indiffeience to food, since 
the mature specimens prey upon plant-lice no less eageily 
than do the larvae. 
When the mature inseCt first throws off the pupa-skin, 
its elytra and the upper surface generally are semi-transpa- 
rent, and of an exceedingly pale ambei coloui. The design 
on the thorax is to be seen, but there is no trace of the 
black spots which afterwards appear, one on each elytron. 
These are gradually formed in the course of a couple of 
hours. I have not found that the presence or absence of 
light made any difference in this process. It would seem, 
therefore, that there is deposited at the spots in question 
