This Time This Place

I stole a bit of silence Yesterday And clutched it to my breast Amidst the roar. Of men And gods And fools Who banter for The unseen Eden...

What of Now? This time, This place?

Cannot they see what glory Lies in sunsets. What innocence in Soft, gray rain?

Cannot they touch the mountaintops And simply revel in the view Or kiss the fingers Of a single hand And know the beauty of a fragile love?

If they all should answer nay, Then let them go And dream their plastic, Gaudy dreams of Eden.

But I will stay... And live among the buttercups And roses And gaze upon the stars. And clutch those drops of Moonshine Lest they forget To light my nights Of wonder MARTHA MOOD TAPESTRIES FROM LESTER KIERSTEAD GALLERY, 712 HAWTHORNE STREET, MONTEREY, CALIFORNIA 93940

Resplendent in their red, russet, orange and black costumes, they perform in open air theaters all over the country. Their roles are demanding ones, since they must polish off the villains of the cast at every performance; yet, they never fail to play their parts with tireless zeal and spectacular success. Among nature's most effective stars, ladybugs deserve a big hand whenever they set foot on stage.

The "lady" part of the name, however, is highly misleading, since their table manners can hardly be described as ladylike, and the cast is not entirely female. Actually, the name has religious connotation. During the Middle Ages, it is believed, the insects were dedicated to the Virgin Mary, and were known as "beetles of Our Lady." Nowadays, ladybugs are also called ladybirds and lady beetles.

Whatever the name, these beetles and their larval offspring hold down the populations of several agricultural pests, especially aphids and scale insects. They also gobble mealybugs, white flies, and the eggs and larvae of many other destructive insects. Their important roles in biological warfare entitle them to the protection of gardeners and farmers everywhere.

Probably the most dramatic performance ever given by ladybugs took place between 1888 and 1890. The California citrus crops were on the verge of being wiped out by the cottony-cushion scale, a pest that had been inadvertently introduced in 1868 from Australia or New Zealand.

Fruit growers despaired. "Find a way to save our orange groves, or we'll be ruined!" they begged the Department of Agriculture.

Ladybug to the rescue. In the fall of 1888 Albert Koebele of the Bureau of Entomology discovered a species of ladybugs called Vedalia - feeding on a similar scale infestation in an Australian garden. Several shipments of these Vedalia beetles to the United States brought sensational results: within eighteen months the scale was under control. Since then, Vedalias have always been raised in California, and continue to be star performers.

Since different species of ladybugs consume different pests, no single species can be used to control all pests. Generally speaking, the reddish-brown bugs feed on aphids, while the blackish ones prefer scale insects, mealybugs and white flies. About three hundred seventy of the nearly four thousand known species are scattered throughout North America.

The ladybug is one of the easiest insects to recognize. Varying from a sixteenth to a quarter of an inch long, its round or oval-shaped body is rounded on top and flat underneath. Glossy, spotted forewings encase the body like a suit of armor. The number of spots varies from two to fifteen, depending on the species. The ladybug's head is so small you can hardly see it, and its legs and antennae are woefully short and stubby.

Poor ground navigation and poor radar bother the ladybug not a whit. An ill-smelling, bitter fluid which it can exude at will from leg joints convinces attackers to ignore it in favor of a more flavorful morsel. Although one ladybug must succumb occasionally to teach an inexperienced attacker, the lesson is well taken, and future ladybugs are immune from that predator.

They will play dead. Conspicuous color and markings further warn insects, birds and other predators to keep a respectful distance. But if worse comes to worse, a ladybug will roll over and play dead.

These defense mechanisms fail only when used on the assassin bug, a species that preys on ladybugs. Man's poison sprays also take their annual toll of ladybugs.

Ladybugs begin their useful careers as microscopic rodshaped eggs, usually orange, which the female deposits in the

NATURE'S LEADING LADIES

spring near colonies of aphids or other favorite ladybug fare. Choosing such a strategic location is farsighted, since the larvae that emerge from the eggs are gluttons. Edwin Way Teale, the well-known naturalist author, estimates ladybug larvae wolf down forty aphids an hour.

What strange looking creatures these larvae are! Resembling Lilliputian lizards, their slim, tapering bodies are often decorated with red, blue, black and orange splotches. Their abdomens are studded with wart-like bumps, and they have six long, spindly legs that transport them with lightning speed as they race about in search of prey.

The larvae outgrow their clothing from time to time, but getting new outfits is no problem when their outer skin gets too tight, they simply shrug it off and grow a new one! This may occur several times during the short time it takes to grow up.

Once grown, the larvae attach themselves by their tails to a blade of grass, the underside of a leaf, or to some other snug retreat. After discarding their skins once again, they start changing into a chrysalis, or pupa. According to one noted authority on insects, Dr. Alexander B. Klots, there have been cases where larvae have consumed from 200 to 300 aphids before entering pupal stage.

But now the feasting days are over and all physical activity halts. Inside the plump pupal case energy flows, forming the adult insect - its wings, legs, reproductive organs and chewing parts of the mouth.

Within a few days the magical transformation is completed and the shiny case bursts open. Out steps the adult ladybug, and away she soars on her small, gossamer wings to find a theater where she can put her special talents to work.

Valuable insect control. During the spring and summer months ladybugs and their offspring are busy playing predatory roles, hotly pursuing a variety of pests that infest flowers, trees, shrubs, vegetables, and many crops. Some endear themselves to potato-growing farmers by destroying the eggs of the Colorado potato beetle. Others devour the aphids that feed so greedily on hop vines for 150 years ladybugs have successfully controlled this pest.

Out in the West, especially in California, a species hibernates entirely different from its eastern relatives. Hippodamia convergens, the convergent lady beetles, fly from their valleys to the tops of hills and mountains, huddling together in enormous masses to spend the winter. Because they can be easily collected at their hibernation grounds, they have been used commercially for insect control with remarkable results.

One of the many California firms engaged in the flourishing ladybug business ships between 3,000 and 5,000 gallons of the convergent beetles annually. (That's a lot of ladybugs when it takes 75,000 to fill one gallon!) Because the insects can be kept dormant in cold storage for long periods, they can be shipped any time during the year.

According to the owner of the company, cotton and alfalfa growers are their biggest customers, who find ladybugs safer than chemical pesticides. Between 3,000 and 4,000 orders arrive each year from gardeners, who put the beetles to work in greenhouses and hotbeds, as well as outdoors.

Unfortunately, man's poison sprays have rung down the curtain on many a ladybug's fine performance. But increased recognition of the insect's importance is persuading more and more people to throw out their sprays and let the "ladies" play the role nature intended them to play.