lady-birds

All these discoveries filled me with a tremendous delight, so that they had to be shared, and I would burst suddenly into the house and startle the family with the news that the strange, spiky black caterpillars on the roses were not caterpillars at all, but the young of lady-birds, or with the equally astonishing news that lacewing-flies laid eggs on stilts.

My Family and Other Animals Durrell, Gerald, 1925- 1956

The first shoal of gnats, mosquitoes, and lady-birds, which Geronimo ignored, was very soon followed by the daddy-longlegs, the lacewing flies, the smaller moths, and some of the more robust beetles.

My Family and Other Animals Durrell, Gerald, 1925- 1956

In this varied terrain so close at hand I found many creatures which I now regarded as old friends: the rose-beetles, the blue carpenter-bees, the lady-birds, and the trapdoor spiders.

My Family and Other Animals Durrell, Gerald, 1925- 1956

The larger beetles, I decided, would sound like steam-rollers, while the smaller ones, the lady-birds and others, would probably purr over the moss like clockwork motor-cars.

My Family and Other Animals Durrell, Gerald, 1925- 1956

On the rose-stems, encrusted with green flies, lady-birds moved like newly painted toys; lady-birds pale red with large black spots; lady-birds apple-red with brown spots; lady-birds orange with grey-and-black freckles.

My Family and Other Animals Durrell, Gerald, 1925- 1956

The little insect called the lady-bird destroys them in great numbers: so you must encourage lady-birds, if you want your roses to flourish.

The Nursery, September 1877, Vol. XXII, No. 3 A Monthly Magazine for Youngest Readers Various

By this lavish use of confectionery, they gain a few interested friends and some enemies like the lady-birds, that eat them up.

The Nursery, September 1877, Vol. XXII, No. 3 A Monthly Magazine for Youngest Readers Various

Whether lady-birds are unwelcome guests in a dairy I know not, but certainly I never heard of their being accustomed to haunt such places.

Notes and Queries, Number 06, December 8, 1849 Various

Wherever the aphides abound, whether in hop-ground, bean-field, or rose-garden, there are lady-birds gathered together, and they are welcomed by the cultivator, if not by the aphis.

The Nursery, September 1877, Vol. XXII, No. 3 A Monthly Magazine for Youngest Readers Various

They are continually seen in company; and the ants sometimes drive off the lady-birds and other foes.

The Nursery, September 1877, Vol. XXII, No. 3 A Monthly Magazine for Youngest Readers Various