25 
common in the Hastings district. Many other localities are given in 
Canon Fowler’s work, but those enumerated above are quite sufficient 
for the purposes of this paper. 
CocciNELLiDiE AphidiphaGjE. —The term Aphidiphagi was first used 
by Latreille, as referring to the carnivorous habits of the species 
included in this division of Coccmellidce. It may be as well, however, to 
mention that in Kirby and Spence’s Entomology it is stated that 
the larva of Coccinella hieroglyphica “eats the leaves of the common 
heath (Erica vulgaris ) after the manner of Lepidoptera.” Of this point 
I have not been able to satisfy myself, but judging from the structure 
of the mouth organs, etc., I believe it to be similar in habits to the other 
species of the genus. Life history .—The perfect insects pass the winter 
in a state of hybernation, hiding behind bark of trees, in odd cracks 
and corners generally. On the approach of spring the beetles come 
out, and the females may be found in suitable localities depositing their 
eggs, usually on the underside of leaves or on the stems of plants, 
trees, etc., which are infested with Aphides. Sometimes a number of 
eggs are deposited together, but more often the parent beetle distributes 
them over several plants. The young larvae appear in a few days, and 
are mostly of a slaty-blue colour, but this varies according to the species. 
In the majority of cases, however, some traces of the wing-pattern are 
more or less discernible. The larvae immediately commence their 
attacks on the Aphides , devouring and slaughtering them indiscrimi¬ 
nately. It is somewhat interesting to watch the Ladybird larvae at 
feeding times, and note their method of operation. On one occasion 
while experimenting with larvae of Coccinella wpunctala in my garden, 
I witnessed the destruction of twelve Aphides by a single larva in about 
five minutes. It was on a July afternoon, and I was endeavouring to get 
the former species to feed on the Aphides clustered on some scarlet-runner 
beans. I placed a larva on a leaf which contained a goodly 
number of Aphides. It immediately roused itself like an animal 
scenting prey. First one Aphis was caught up in its jaws, given a sort 
of shaking, then dropped, as if the flavour was not of the right sort. 
Other Aphides became victims in the same way, when the Ladybird 
larva moved off to a new hunting-ground. The experiment of trying 
to rear the larva of C. \\-pu?ictata on the garden Aphides proved 
eventually an utter failure, and I was only able to obtain a couple of 
starved specimens from about 50 or 60 larvae, and these, I believe, were 
nurtured from the carcases of their brethren in confinement. To 
resume the subject, the larva, on reaching the full-fed stage, fastens its 
tail to a leaf, generally choosing the upper surface, the body attaining 
an upright position, and it then changes to pupa. The duration of the 
pupal stage seldom exceeds six days, when the beetle emerges quite 
perfect. At first the elytra (or wing cases) are of an uniform white, but 
in a short time, however, the dark markings begin to appear, and in a 
few hours the wing-cases are of the proper pattern and colour. 
Variation. —It is well known to most coleopterists that the Ladybird 
species in many instances vary so exceedingly in the colour and markings 
of the elytra as to give one a deal of trouble in determining the name 
of the species to which it belongs. The most variable of the group 
undoubtedly are Adalia bipmictata , Coccinella \o-punctata, and C. 
hieroglyphica. Other species also vary considerably, but not to the 
same extent as these three. The type form of A. bipunctata has red 
E 
