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water or may have been found dead. Fly larvae were found in the 

 stomachs of three Snappers, seven Painted Turtles and two Speckled 

 Turtles, while the pupaB or chrysalids of flies were found in the 

 stomachs of five Painted Turtles. It will be noted from the table 

 that the flies eaten by Turtles are chiefly those species which in the 

 larval stage live in mud or in damp places. The similarity of the 

 haunt or habitat of the Turtle accounts for these aquatic insects as 

 elements of their food. It is remarkably interesting to the student 

 of ecology, or the relationship of organisms in Nature, to compare 

 our table for the Orthoptera, which live away from water when 

 young, and which were almost entirely avoided by the aquatic 

 Turtles, but eaten extensively by Lizards and Common Box Turtles, 

 with the table for the Diptera or flies, representing species the 

 young of which live in water, but none of which were taken by the 

 last named Reptiles, yet having entered plainly into the food of the 

 aquatic species of Turtles. 



The Coleoptera, or Beetles, present a very wide range of food, 

 structure, and economy. Many insects belonging to this order were 

 eaten by Turtles. Undeterminable fragments of beetles were found 

 in the stomachs of all species of Turtles, excepting two, while un- 

 determined beetles recognized to be in the larval stage were found 

 in only two. Nothing can be said of the economic effect or value 

 of insects which are so fragmentary as to be unrecognizable. 



The ground beetles are beneficial insects, in general, because they 

 are predaceous in habits and feed upon other insects. This family 

 was found represented in the stomachs of the Musk Turtle, three 

 specimens of Painted Turtle, the Wood Turtle, two Speckled Turtles 

 and some Box Turtles. 



The lower families of beetles are mostly aquatic, living on or in 

 the water. Some feed upon other insects and small aquatic organ- 

 isms, and all act as scavengers. Among these are the Diving Beetles 

 which are obnoxious because they may feed upon small fishes. 

 These predaceous insects or diving beetles were devoured by one 

 Snapper, one Painted Turtle and two Speckled Turtles. The Whirli- 

 gig Beetles are the little dark insects which gyrate or whirl around 

 rapidly on the surface of the water and are scavengers. These were 

 found represented in the stomach of only one Snapper. The Water 

 Scavengers are large dark beetles living in the water, and according 

 to their name are beneficial in cleaning up dead material found in 

 their realm. They were found eaten by only one Snapper. 



June Bugs and Rose Bugs are among the most serious enemies of 

 vegetation, in both their larval and adult stages. The young of the 

 June Bug, and also of the Flower Beetle, are known as white grubs 

 and feed upon the roots of plants in the ground. These insects were 



