TROMBIDIIDAE OF MINNESOTA ; 115 
the palpi and first pair of legs are held forward and act as feelers. 
As soon as a victim is touched it is grasped by the palpal claws and 
held as if in a hand between the claws and thumbs. The sword-like 
mandibles are thrust into the body, moved about by a more or less 
circular motion, and the body fluids sucked out. The mandibles may be 
removed several times and thrust in at a new location. From April 
1 to the middle of June they continue their search for food. If 
sufficient food is at hand four to six days will suffice for full engorge- 
ment. The food consists of small insects and insect-like forms in the 
soil or on low plants. In the field we have seen them feeding on small 
coleoptera larvae, small adult chironomids which had fallen to the 
ground, small spiders and plant lice. In the laboratory they have 
fed on killed coleoptera larvae, injured centipedes, very small ant larvae, 
aphids 
5) 
young grasshopper nymphs just emerging from the ‘amnion,’ 
and their eggs, eggs of Sericothrombium scabrum, and upon members 
of their own species. It seemed to be more often the larger females 
which devoured the smaller males when there was a lack of natural 
food in the breeding jars. In the field the shrivelled remains of mites 
may often be found in such places as to arouse the suspicion that 
cannabalism may be fairly common. They seem to be extremely fond 
of plant lice and are often seen climbing plants and shrubs in search of 
them, going as high as two or three feet. This is the only one of our 
trombidiums which is commonly seen climbing plants. It is also able 
to walk up the sides of a glass jar. The presence of the pulvillus will 
explain this ability to climb. In the laboratory we have fed adults 
on the winter eggs of willow aphids and upon the aphids of box elder, 
salvia, aster, dahlia, sunflower, red clover, cherry, woolly aphis of the 
elm and upon white-fly larvae. They will also devour grasshopper eggs 
readily, but probably do not do so in nature, as they do not seem to 
show any tendency to burrow in their search for food. On the other 
hand while animal food seems to be their choice they will take other 
forms of food. On one occasion we found a specimen enjoying a 
meal from a crumb of moist bread which a picknicker had dropped on 
the ground. Repeatedly we have found them evidently sucking nectar 
from fallen oak catkins, and liquid from the sticky bud coverings 
of box elder, as well as sucking moisture from wet soil. One lot of 
several adults was brought into the laboratory and placed in a jar 
with very moist soil. No food was given. They were unengorged and 
several were noticed inserting the mandibles into clumps of moist soil 
exactly as if feeding on an insect. Next morning they were very 
noticeably increased in size. After a few days eggs were deposited. 
