LADY BIRDS. Coccinellidee. These are among the most beneficial of the insect tribes to the farmer and the horticulturist, from the fact that they prey on other insects in all stages of their growth from the larva to the perfect beetle. They were narned frorn Coccus, the insect which produces the cochineal of commerce, from the prevailing bright red color of the species. Dr. Le Baron says that upwards of twenty North American species have been described and dis tributed in a number of sub-genera, founded for the most part upon obscure or unimportant char acters. There is a greenish, black spotted insect that should not be confounded with the lady birds, since it is a vegetable feeder, and a near relation to the three-striped cucumber beetle, and is known as the twelve-spotted dia brotica, or spotted squash beetle. All the cocci nella, or lady birds, excepting, .it is said, Epil achna borealis, one of the largest species, are beneficial, by destroying plant lice, (bark lice,> scale insects, including the ofange scale insect, and various eggsand larvw, especially those of the Colorado potato beetle, which, in the egg state, is preyed upon by a number of species of lady birds. They deposit their eggs in the midst of the aphides, and, when hatched, the young lame im mediately commence feeding voraciously upon them, and continue to destroy them until they change to the pupa state; then they remain motionless, fastened to a leaf or branch, until they again change to the perfect insect--in this stage. to feed on other insects and propagate their species. Chilocorus bivulnerus, a small black lady bird, with two red spots on its wing cover, is. very useful in destroying bark lice, which are so injurious to fruit trees. I have observed them early in the spring attacking the pine tree scale, ripping open the cases and devouring a few of the eggs, leaving the rest to fall to the earth when the trees are agitated by the wind, in this way destroying many of this injurious coccus. Exochomus g uexi, a small red lady bird with two. black spots is of similar habits. It is of great utility, by destroying the orange scale insect, which has proved so very destructive to the orange tree in Florida. If any farmer wishes to satisfy himself as to the utility of the lady bird, he can easily do so. By minutely examining his rose bushes in the summer, when covered with lice, he will find an elongated bluish black insect, somewhat resembling an alligator in shape, with more or less orange or yellow spots on the back and sides. This is the larva of a red or black-spotted lady bird, and if placed under a tumbler with a fresh twig of the plant covered with plant lice, after a few days it will cease eating, fasten itself to a leaf, shed its skin, and assume the pupa state; and in a few days more change again into the perfect insect. As a means of illustrating some of the more common species of these beneficial insects, we give a series of cuts—beetles, larva and eggs—with explanations from one of Dr. C. V. Riley's
Missouri Repor4s, which says: In the egg state the Colorado potato beetle is preyed upon by na less than four distinct species of lady birds. Foremost among them is the Spotted lady bird (Hippodamia maculata, DeGeer) which is one of our most common species and is of a pink color, marked with large black spots as in Figure 1. Next comes the Nine-spotted lady bird (Coccinella Herbst) which is of a brick-fed color and marked with nine small black spots as in Fig. 2. Next, the Thirteen-spotted lady bird Linn.) which is also of a brick-red color but marked with thirteen black spots as in Fig. 3. (To these we have added the black, two-spotted lady bird, Chilocorus nerus, Leach, Fig. 4. This is black, with a red dot on each wing cover and is useful in destroy ing the lice of the apple, plum and other trees. Edt.) And last but not least, the little species fig ured at 5 which may be known as the Conver gent lady bird (Hippodamia, convergens, Guer), and which is of an orange red color marked. with black and white as in the figure. This last species alone has been of im rnens6 benefit in checking ' the ravages of potato bee tles. Its larva is represented of the natural size at Fig. 5 ,t, its colors being blue, orange and black; when full gown it hangs by the tail to the under side of a stock or leaf and transforms into a pupa represented at Figure 5, b. In this state it is of the exact color of the Color ado beetle larva and is doubtless quite often mistaken for that larva and ruthlessly destroyed. It may readily be distinguished however by its quiescence, and let every potato grower learn well to recognize it and spare its life! The larvw of all these lady birds are more bloodthirsty in their habits than the perfect bcetles, and the larva of the little Convergent lady bird isso essentially cannibal that whenever other food fails, it will turn to and devour the helpless pupm of its own kind. All these larvw bear a strong general re semblance, and with the aid of Fig. 5, a and Fig. 6, a good idea may be obtained of them. They run with considerable speed, and may be found in great numbers upon almost any kinds of herbage.
The larvT of certain species that prey upon the Hop Plant-louse in the Ea:A are well known to the hop pickers as black niggers Or ser pents, and are carefully preserved by them as some of their most effi cient friends. The eggs of lady birds greatly resemble those of the Colorado potato beetle, and are scarcely distinguishable except by their smaller size and by a much smaller number being usually collected together in a single group, As these eggs are often laid in the same situation as those of the potato-feeding in sect, care must be taken by persons who under take to destroy the latter, not to confound those of their best friends with those of their bitterest enemies.
(See Lady birds.) LkDY'S MANTLE. Plants of the genus Alchenmdla; they are slightly astringent, but wholesome.