94 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS VOL. 85 



as a whole have 822 records representing 140 species of birds. Some 

 of the larger numbers of wasps consumed at a meal were 10 Vespxda 

 germanica by a wild turkey, 10 Polistes sp. by a yellow-billed magpie, 

 and the following numbers of unidentified wasps by the birds men- 

 tioned : purple martin 17, olive-sided flycatcher 24, and kingbird 30. 



The 103 records of Sphecoidea are distributed among 43 species of 

 birds, none of which took any notable number of these large insects. 

 Bees all sting, and the 797 records of their being eaten by the birds 

 examined by us would seem to indicate considerable disregard for 

 the stings on the part of birds. The number of species of birds repre- 

 sented in these bee-eating records is 144. Thirty-two species of birds 

 took honey bees {Apis mellifera) on a total of 118 occasions and nine 

 species of birds ate bumble bees a total of 18 times. These numbers 

 of determinations seem in fair proportion to the availability of the 

 bees concerned. The largest numbers of bees taken at a meal were 

 26 Andrenidae by a rose-bi-easted grosbeak, 34 honey bees by a cactus 

 wren, and 106 of the domestic species by a road-runner. 



It is of interest to note that besides the thrushes and woodpeckers 

 previously mentioned, two other groups of birds are very notable 

 consumers of Hymenoptera. Thus the seven species of swallows make 

 an average of 24.9 per cent of their diet of these insects, and 14 

 species of flycatchers average 33 per cent. 



Suimnary. — Number of identifications of Hymenoptera 27,025 : 

 percentage of identifications among those of all insects, 14. 1 551 ; per- 

 centage of species in this group among all insect species, 17.1798. 



Other enemies. — Hymenoptera. having so few aquatic representa- 

 tives, do not figure in the diet of fishes as anything but an incidental 

 item, consisting of specimens, a considerable proportion of them ants, 

 that have approached too near or have fallen upon the surface of 

 the water. 



Passing to batrachian enemies of Hymenoptera we may note that 

 Kirkland found ants to compose 19 per cent of the contents of 

 149 toad stomachs, and that he had evidence also of their feeding ex- 

 tensively upon honey bees. Garnian also found not only the common 

 toad (Bufo lenfiginosiis) but also the pigmy toad (Biifo qitercicus) 

 to be very fond of ants. Toads have been observed to feed freely 

 upon the larger stinging insects also, such as yellowjackets and wasps. 

 Drake found 25 ants and 21 other Hymenoptera in 209 stomachs of 

 the leopard frog. Insects of this order, especially ants, are eaten by 

 all frogs and toads and to a considerable extent by salamanders also. 

 Most lizards feed freely on ants, bees, and wasps. Winton found 

 agricultural ants (Pogonouiyrmex) in 80 per cent of the liorned-toad 



