32 



SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS VOL. 85 



they have protective adaptations of various kinds, termites are eaten 

 freely by numerous animals. Birds prey upon them eagerly when 

 occasion offers, but on the whole not out of proportion to the abun- 

 dance of the insects. 



ORXnOPTEROIDEA 



Percentage of 

 identifications 

 among; those 

 Number of of all 



Group identifications Ortliopteriodea 



Unidentified 6,809 35-8310 



Dermaptera 18 -0947 



Paleoptera n? -6157 



Dictyoptera 58 .3052 



Cheleutoptera 26 .1368 



Diphtheroptera 5,695 29.9688 



Orthoptera 6,280 33-0472 



Percentage 



of species 



in this group 



among the 



whole number 



of nearctic 



Orthopteroidea ' 



1.8494 

 4.4194 

 2.II36 

 I-453I 

 69-3525 

 20.7397 



DERMAPTERA ( EARWIGS ) 



All earwigs have pincer-like appendages at the end of the abdomen, 

 the function of which is little understood. One suggestion is that they 

 are for defense, but in what way they might serve for this purpose 

 is not clear. Many earwigs have glands producing a fetid secretion. 

 These insects in general are inconspicuous but a few have brilliant 

 colors. Earwigs are seldom met with in the United States and the 

 record of their bird enemies is short — 18 identifications in the 

 stomachs of 15 species of birds. Percentage of identifications among 

 those of all insects, .0094 ; percentage of species in this group among 

 the whole number of insect species known, .1301. That this result is 

 merely a reflection of the infrequency of earwigs is indicated by the 

 fact that in Great Britain where these insects are much more common, 

 the records of birds eating them are proportionately higher. Thus 

 Robert New.stead," treating of a mere fraction of our numbei of 

 stomach examinations gives records for seven species of birds and 

 notes that 23 earwigs were found in the stomach of a green wood- 

 pecker and 40 in that of a whimbrel. F. V. Theobald and William 

 McGowan in their report ' on " The lAjod of the Rook, Starling and 

 Chaffinch," note that each of these birds jircy upon earwigs, and 



'Computed from Scudder, S. TI., Catalogue of the described Orthoptera of 

 the United States and Canada, Proc. Davenport (Iowa) Acad. Nat. Sci., vol. 8, 

 roi pp., 3 pis., 1900. 



■Suppl. Journ. Board Agr. [Londonl, vol. 15. no. 9, Dec, 1908. 



'Suppl. Journ. Board Agr. [Londonl, vol. 15, no. 15, May, 1916. 



