68 
THE NATUKALIST ABilOAD. 
eon(|ueror, to continue his insatiable ravages. At length Nature demands an 
armistice ; its back swells, and becomes of a duller colour; it turns itself round 
and round on the leaf it occupies, restless and uneasy, and at length fixes 
itself by the tail, remains quiescent for some time, and assumes the chrysalis state. 
In ten days,* forth steps a lovely insect, and claims our notice as the well-known 
Ladybird. First, its soft elytra are of a fine yellovf, without any spots; then 
seven faint Specks appear upon the shells, which by degrees become deeper and 
brighter, and the usual red hue is finally assumed. It is not indeed on the Hop 
only that the Coccinellce attack the Aphides; for some years ago I remember to 
have observed a bed of Nettles covered with hundreds of the C. septempunctata^ 
in the larva, chrysalis, and perfect states. The nettles had been literally loaded 
with Aphides,-which the Ladybirds had nearly cleared away. The chrysalids 
vary considerably in hue, some being of a bright orange with black spots, others 
darker, with black patches, and some so very dusky as to appear almost black. 
When the perfect insects emerge, they are at first of a light orange colour, till the 
sun gives them their rich red tint. The larva of C. bipunciata is of a dusky brown, 
with black longitudinal stripes down the body, and three light orange spots 
arranged in a triangular manner just below the thorax; some, however, appear with 
the body covered with small black spots, and four black spots at the corners of the 
thorax. The chrysalis resembles the larva in colour, the ground being dusky 
white, with marks of black and brown. When touched, the head of the chrysalis 
suddenly springs up and falls back again. Although the members of the Cocci- 
nellidce seem very sociable in their perfect state, and intermarry with each other, 
it is far otherwise in the larva state, for woe then to the hapless wretch who 
comes within reach of a stronger cousin s fangs—a death-clutch is his inevitable 
portion ! It is thus evidently the Hop planter s interest to encourage the increase 
of the CoccinellcE^ and, what is not often the case with farmers, I have in general 
found that to this benefit at least their eyes are pretty well open, and the Lady¬ 
birds are preserved. 
A great number of C. hipunctata took the liberty, last winter, of quartering 
themselves in clusters upon the ceiling of my parlour, hall, and study, where I 
suffered them to stay till genial spring summoned them off. Though I thus 
cheerfully gave them the rites of hospitality, not one has returned this winter. 
It is the way of the world! 
To say nothing of their utility, the Coccinellidce must be allowed on all hands 
to be a pretty and most interesting tribe. Endeared to us even by the absurd 
rhymes of childhood, we are open to their real claims in riper years, and look 
* This was the exact time taken by a larva I bred in confinement; but perhaps some little 
' variation may occur. 
