1912.] NATURAL SCIENCES OF PHILADELPHIA. 291 



liar acid to the larvae which feed upon it, such as to cause their 

 rejection as food by small reptiles, etc.?" 



Plateau found that Rana temporaria and Triton punctatus rejected, 4 

 while Triton alpestris disregarded the larvae of Abraxas. 11 Eltringham 

 cites a very few tests made with a salamander. The animal accepted 

 earthworms and honey bees, and disregarded larvae of Pieris 

 brassicce. 1 '- Finn found that the Indian bull-frog (Rana tigrina) 13 - 

 took all butterflies offered to it, except two Danais chrysippus, of 

 Avhich species it ate one. 



In the United States. 



A number of experiments upon Amphibia have been performed in 

 the United States. These are discussed in two groups, those on 

 toads and those on frogs. 



Toads. — In company with Dr. A. K. Fisher, the writer once 

 attempted to give a toad (Bufo lentiginosus) his fill of hymenopterous 

 food. This occurred on Plummer's Island, Md., about 1905. Honey 

 bees and wasps of the genera Polistes, Sceliphron, and Vespa were 

 captured, their wings were clipped, and they were put down so that 

 they would crawl in front of the toad, which was partially domesti- 

 cated about the cabin and was not much disturbed by the move- 

 ments of humans. The toad took every insect offered, although at 

 times he showed considerable but ludicrous signs of discomfort. Not 

 less than 30, and perhaps as many as 40 Hymenoptera were taken by 

 this animal in about an hour. He finally left the spot, apparently 

 to get away from a locality characterized by such extremely spicy 

 food, which nevertheless he was apparently unable to refuse. 



In another experiment performed by the writer at the same locality, 

 on August 6, 1911, another toad was also fed Polistes, Pelopceus, and 

 another stinging wasp, none of which was refused. A sphinx moth, 

 a small white moth, several ants and flies also were taken. The 

 toad attempted to eat a katydid (Cyrtophyllus perspicillatus) , but 

 found it too large. A small Heterocampa larva, colored green and 

 red, was eaten, and then a Julus was put before him. As soon as 

 it began to crawl he seized it by one end and, not getting a good hold, 

 ejected it. It then crawled over his head. This might be construed 

 by some as evidence of dislike, but I think that if the Julus had been 

 fairly seized it would have gone down. At any rate the case well 



11 Mem. de la Soc. Zool. de France, VII, 1894, pp. 383, 384. 



12 Trans. Ent. Soc. Lond., 1909, pp. 473, 474. 

 i3 Joum. Asiatic Soc. Bengal, 66, 1897 (1898), p. 533. 



