Ii33 



liopjM'is, iiiolli laiV;»', rose lmj;s ami otluM* species. W'liile it 

 oeeasi^iuallv I'eeds upon lislu s 'his mav iiol be a serious objection as 

 Ihoy are n(»t ^ciierallv such (jcsiiable species as ^anie fishes. 



Other autliors havi- uiadc sinteuieuls conceiniu^- (heir food as fol- 

 lows: 



'•Fish" (Diluiars); "iuseits"' (llulbrooU, DeKay, and iJihuarsj; 

 "Tadpoles" (MolbrooU, Dituuirsj; "Frof^s" (llolbrooU); "Ducklings 

 etc." (Shaw); "Kartlnvorins" (llolbrook); "Aquatic reptiles" (De- 

 l\ay); "A«iua(ic plants" iDitiuars, Fu|^. Smith); "Water PlanlaiB 

 leaves" (DeKay). 



h w ill i>e seen fi'om the above that this species is reported to feed 

 to a considerable extent ujton Ncrlebrate material, whereas we have 

 found less (han 10 per cent, of those <lissected containinjif Verte- 

 brates. Further, it has been the common belief that turtles feed on 

 lish. while out of (he 86 stomachs examined less than 5 per cent, were 

 found (o have eaten tish. By far the j^reatest amount of food for 

 the Painted Turtles was furnished by the group of animal organisms 

 known as Insects, although a large per cent, of their food was plant 

 material. In fact, T:> per cent, of those containing food had eaten 

 more or less of vegetable matter, while over 80 per cent, had eaten 

 animal material. 



Among the insec(s some are recognized as very destructive species, 

 and a careful study of our food charts shows that these turtles must 

 be regarded as beneficial rather than obnoxious. 



Special atti'ution sliould be called to some of the stomach con- 

 tents of some individuals of this sjiecies. For example, specimen 

 Xo. (J.'JJda- contained eleven damsel (ly nymphs of one species, one of 

 another species, one (rue dragon tly, one damsel fly, one beetle larva, 

 one flat spiral shell (I'lanorbisj and one crustacean. In the intes- 

 tines were found many fragments pointing to a prepouderence of 

 damsel flies as food. Specimen !)r).S2a' contained considerable food, 

 and of this 99 per cent, was vegetable matter, mostly algiB and 

 fragments of water lily or arrow head leaves. Specimen r)9r)la'- 

 contained considerable food, of which 7") per cent, was the remains 

 of aquatic snails or molhisks and 25 per cent, was plant leaves. In 

 the seventy-nine specimens examined the greater portion of the food 

 contents of twenty-eight individuals was of animal origin, while 

 forty-four contained vegetable maKer as Iheii- majoi- portion. an<l 

 seven contained alxnit ('(jual amounts of animal and vegetable tissue. 

 It is remarkable (o know that some specimens contained specjnu'ns of 

 Macrodactylus subspinosus, the Hose Chafer, which is also known as 

 the injurious Rose Hug. There can be no doubt of (he economic 

 features of these insectivorous creatures. 



