INSECTS. 
153 
SECTION TRIMEKA. 
Two families, of which one only need be noticed here, are included in this 
section. The Coccinellidce, or lady-birds are so familiar to everyone that it is quite 
unnecessary to describe their general appearance. They are resembled in shape 
by some other beetles, but in such cases the lady-birds may be distinguished by their 
three-jointed tarsi, clubbed antennae, and the hatchet-shaped terminal joint of their 
palpi. These charming little insects have always been held in much respect, as the 
different names given to them testify, and it is well that it should be so. For 
while the species of a few genera ( Epilachna , Lasia) are herbivorous in their 
habits, the great majority live—especially in the larval state—upon green-fly and 
plant-lice, and, by keeping these noxious insects in check, perform a useful service 
to man. The lady-birds are found in nearly all parts of the world, and over a 
5 4 6 
LADY-BIRDS. 
1, Micraspis duodecimpundata (nat. size and enlarged); 2, Coccinella septempundata ; 3, Larva (enlarged); 4, 
G. impustulata ; 5, C. bipundata and dark variety ; 6, Chilocorus bipustulatus. 
thousand different species are known. Among several species occurring in Britain 
the two commonest are, perhaps, the large seven-spotted Coccinella septempuncta 
and the small two-spotted C. bipundata . The latter varies in colour to a 
great extent, so that between the typical form with red elytra marked with two 
black spots, and others in which the elytra are entirely black, one meets with 
almost every intermediate condition. The larvae of these species may often be 
seen walking about on leaves that are infested with green-fly. They may be 
recognised by their slate-blue colour, marked with some yellow dots, and by the 
greed with which they devour the aphides. The larvae, when about five or six 
weeks old, are ready to pupate. Fixing themselves by the tail-end to a leaf, they 
cast their skin, and the pupae, resting upon the cast-off larval skin, remain attached 
to the leaf. The beetles emerge about eight days later, so that the whole course of 
development from the egg to the perfect insect is completed in less than a couple 
of months. 
C. J. GAIIAX. 
