NO. 7 PROTECTIVE ADAPTATIONS McATEE ']! 



The Melyridae (Malachiidae) are poorly represented compared to 

 the Lampyridae, yet upon inspection of the records it does not seem 

 that they are really avoided. Six genera and at least lO species of 

 these beetles were identified; 21 species of birds had eaten them, and 

 for one of these birds, Say's phoebe, there were eight records of 

 feeding on Collops. Identifications of the Cleridae again include 

 numerous (21) species distributed among an equal number of species 

 of birds. One of these birds, the red-eyed vireo, had eight of the 

 records. In our experience Cleridae occur chiefly scattered and in 

 small numbers, a type of distribution with which the records of birds 

 preying upon them seem to harmonize. 



Of the Histeridae, Donisthorpe says : "All the species of this 

 family are protected by their oval shape and hardness. They also 

 ' feign death.' " . . . . the " species which are spotted with red, are 

 probably protected by their reseml)lance to Coccinellidae." ( Trans. 

 Ent. Soc. London, 1901, p. 354.) The prevailing- color in this family, 

 i. e. black, has also been said to have a warning significance. Our 

 records show, 1,063 identifications of Histeridae rei)resenting 116 

 species of birds ; they are very freely eaten by some of these birds, 

 the number of records per species exceeding 20 in the case of at least 

 12 kinds, and the number of specimens eaten at a meal running up 

 to as high as 200 as a maximum. 



The family of blister beetles (Mylabridae, Cantharidae, or Meloidae 

 as it is variously known) is especially noted for the presence in the 

 bodies of its members of a vesicant poison, cantharidin, of which as 

 small a quantity as one grain has proved a fatal dose for a human 

 being. Bastin says of them " the blood contains cantharidin, an 

 extremely caustic substance, which is an almost perfect protection 

 against birds, reptiles, and predacious insects." ( Insects, their life- 

 histories and habits, p. 167, 191 3.) While these beetles are supposed 

 to enjoy a very high degree of ])rotection from natural enemies, 47 

 species of birds included in the tabulations here discussed had fed 

 upon them. Seven of the species had 10 or more records apiece of 

 preying upon blister beetles, the eastern kingbird having no fewer 

 tlian yy. In some cases from 12 to 16 specimens of cantharids were 

 found in single stomachs and a maximum of 31 in the case of a 

 magpie; more than 30 s])ccies in all of these beetles were identified. 



Pyrochroidae are said to he another s]>cciallv defended group of the 

 first order, but in view of the fact that there are only 11 nearctic 

 species of the family and they usual!}- rare, we l)elieve that the four 

 records of our l)irds capturing them are as many as could be expected. 

 One of the birds eating Pyrochroidae, namely a hairy woodpecker, 



