41 
e autumn of i864,. Dr. Shimer ascertained that the spotted lady- 
ig (Hippodamia metadata) preys extensively upon the chinch-buo- 
a particular held of corn, which had been sown thick for fodder 
id which was swarming with chinch-bugs, he found, as he says’ 
• at this lady-bug ‘could be counted by hundreds upon every square 
id ol giound, after shaking the corn; but the chincli-bugs were 
numerous that these hosts of enemies made very little nercenti- 
3 impression upon them. In a corn-field near Jacksonville, vis- 
d by me on the 7th of September, 18S2, five species of lady-bugs 
,re found extremely abundant on corn which was undergoing- 
nous injury by hosts of chinch-bugs. There were often as many 
fifteen or twenty to a hill, and larvae were likewise occasionally 
en. As they were found on all parts of the corn, traveling about 
lively among the bugs, the natural inference was that the latter 
oracted them to the field. Previous studies of the food of this 
only had shown me, however, that they were not by any means 
- 8tn ® t] y carnivorous as had previously been supposed, but that 
sy often derived the principal part of their food from the ve^et- 
le kingdom To learn the exact state of the case in this corn- 
Ld I collected a number of all the species seen there, including 
’P IciiVcE, made . careful dissections of a sufficient number of them 
give me a fair average of their lood, mounted the contents of 
sir alimentary canals and examined them with the microscope. 
Three specimens of the common spotted lady-bug (Hippodamia 
\adata) were dissected, but no traces of chinch-bugs were found 
i t leir stomachs, while all but about thirteen per cent, of their 
. consisted of the spores of lichens and various minute 
J gi, and the pollen of ragweed and other similar plants. 
>aces of plant-lice were recognized, undoubtedly derived from the 
coin plant-louse (Aphis maidis), which also abounded in 
' field, Five specimens ot the convergent lady-bug (Hippodamia 
,vergens,) had eaten about equal quantities of plant-lice and chinch- 
fes, which togethei made only one-third of their food, the remain- 
consisting of the same kinds of vegetation as those fust men- 
r\ /A ' I ’ 1L 1 J 1 • /» it . . *' 
^nech Three of these beetles, in fact, had eaten no insect food at 
• lo my great surprise, two larvae of this species, taken at the 
ne place and time, differed but little in food from the adults, 
finch-bugs and plant-lice in about equal ratios, with fragments of 
recognizable insects, made about one-fourth of the whole, the re¬ 
tailing three-fourths consisting only of vegetation of about the same 
ids as before. 
The icy lady-bug (Hippodamia glacialis) was represented by four 
icimens taken in this field. The differences between their food 
id that of the preceding species were purely trivial. Young cliinch- 
'gs composed about eight per cent, of the total, and about eighteen 
■ cent, was plant-lice. All the remainder was vegetation, divided 
aut as before, between pollen of plants and Spores of fungi, 
lien spores were also eaten freely, and were estimated at twelve 
cent, of the whole. 
he nine-spotted lady-bug (Coccinella 9-potata) was represented 
only a single specimen, which had taken no insect food what- 
r, but had eaten only fungi. 
