banks.

[Illustration: 256. Lace-winged Fly and Eggs.]

[Illustration: 257. Forceps-tail.]

The nine-spotted Lady Bug, Coccinella novemnotata (Fig. 255, with pupa)
is one of a large group of beetles, most beneficial from their habit of
feeding on the plant lice. We figure another enemy of the Aphides,
Chrysopa, and its eggs (Fig. 256), mounted each on a long silken stalk,
thus placed above the reach of harm.

Among other beneficial insects belonging to the Neuroptera, is the
immense family of Libellulidae, or Dragon flies. The Forceps-tail, or
Panorpa, P. rufescens (Fig. 257), is found in bushy fields and
shrubbery. They prey on smaller insects, and the males are armed at the
extremity of the body with an enormous forceps-like apparatus.

_The Insects of August._

During this month great multitudes of bugs (Hemiptera) are found in our
fields and gardens; and to this group of insects the present chapter
will be devoted. They are nearly all injurious to crops, as they live on
the sap of plants, stinging them with their long suckers. Their
continued attacks cause the leaves to wither and blight.

The grain Aphis, in certain years, desolates our wheat fields. We have
seen the heads black with these terrible pests. They pierce the grain,
extract the sap, causing it to shrink and lose the greater part of its
bulk. It is a most insidious and difficult foe to overcome.

[Illustration: 258. Leaf-hopper of the Vine.]

The various leaf-hoppers, Tettigonia (Fig. 258) and Ceresa, abound on
the leaves of plants, sadly blighting them; and the Tettigonias frequent
damp, wet, swampy places. A very abundant species on grass produces what
is called "frog's spittle." It can easily be traced through all its
changes by frequently examining the mass of froth which surrounds it.
Tettigonia Vitis blights the leaf of the grape-vine. It is a tenth of an
inch long, and is straw-yellow, striped with red. Tettigonia rosae, a
still smaller species, infests the rose, often to an alarming extent.

The Notonecta, or water boatman, is much like a Tettigonia, but its
wings are transparent on the outer half, and its legs are fringed with
long hairs, being formed for swimming. It rows over the surface in
pursuit of insects. Notonecta undulata Say (Fig. 259) is a common form
in New England.

Another insect hunter is the singular Ranatra fusca (Fig. 260). It is
light brown in color, with a long respiratory tube which it raises above
the surface