THE CANADIAN ENTOMOLOGIST. *2.*)!> 



on the bark in the shape of bright yellow, globular masses of the size of 

 small apples, and at a certain stage of development is gathered and eaten 

 uncooked. Other savage tribes inhabiting barren territories may be par- 

 tially dependent on similar substitutes for the nutritious roots and succu- 

 lent fruits used by more favorably located races ; but civilized man, with 

 his long list of food plants to choose from, considers fungi more as luxuries 

 than as essential articles of diet. 



The common field Mushroom (AgaricUs campestris), found wild 

 throughout the greater part of the world, ranks high as a table delicacy, 

 and is largely cultivated in some countries. Several other species of fungi 

 are also used in considerable quantities ; for instance, the famous Truffle, 

 which grows several inches below the surface of the ground, and requires 

 to be hunted with the aid of dogs trained to scent them out. Many 

 others, likewise very wholesome and palatable, are, however, seldom used 

 because of their resemblance to poisonous varieties. 



We find man not alone in his liking for fungi and his use of them as 

 food. Domestic cattle and many wild animals also relish them and 

 devour species shunned by man. The insect world produces a great 

 variety of species subsisting either in the larval or perfect state, or in 

 both, upon fungus. Often when a fine, fresh-looking, pink-gilled, snowy- 

 clad Mushroom is plucked, the picker finds, much to his disappointment 

 and disgust, that his savory morsel is already " food for worms." A num- 

 ber of small grubs are feasting within the stalk, and in a few hours 

 the cherished Mushroom becomes a black decaying mass, filled with little 

 maggots. 



A great variety of fungi are similarly attacked and made the banqueting 

 chambers of numerous foes. The tender, short-lived species, such as 

 Mushrooms and Toadstools, decay and perish quickly, but the harder 

 kinds, growing upon old and dead or fallen trees, harbor their tenants 

 much longer, and preserve their shape and outward comeliness even after 

 they have been eaten and withered away inwardly. 



The object of this brief paper is to call the attention of any who have 

 recently commenced collecting to the fact that fungi are so much fre- 

 quented by insects, and that many species can be obtained from them with 

 but little trouble. I will therefore briefly mention a few of the numerous 

 Coleoptera which I have taken on or in fungus ; not because they are rare 

 beetles, but rather because they may be easily obtained and are well known. 



