- 6 - 



feeding habitc of the toad influence its captures of meiTibers of this order. 

 Since the total bulk of Hy-msnoptera other than entn taken duj:-ing the entire 

 season amounts to only I.5 percent, their destruction is of r.-:latively little 

 importanco. 



Caterpillars (Lepidoptera) were identified in I79 i^tornachs, being 

 identified as cutworms in kG cases. Notwithstanding the abundance of grass- 

 hoppers and crickets (Orthopt.era) in most places, they form a small portion 

 of the toad's food. Flies (Diptera) belonging to 2& families wer^ iden- 

 tified in the stomach contents, and althDiigh taken rather frequently, they 

 constitute only 2 percent of the season's food; while many are innocuous 

 forms, others represent predacious, carnivorous, or blood-sucking species. 

 Bugs (Hemiptera) form about 2 percent of the total food for the season, 

 although during May they constitute nearly g percent. Caddis flies 

 (Trichoptora) constitute 2 percent of the food in July, but average for tho 

 entire season less than 1 percent. 



CONCLUSIONS 



The evidence for and against the toad as shown by the stomach contents 

 of 502 coiiii^^on toads may be summarised as follows: 



Toads are beneficial when they eat rayriapods , sowbugs, Orthoptera, May 

 beetles, leaf beetles, weevils, and caterpillars. Tho p..rcontago by bulk of 

 that portion of the total food which consists of noxious animals is not 

 offset by an equal amount of animals beneficial to man. The number of 

 beneficial carabid beetles, ladybird booties, ichne\L7ions, and spiders de- 

 stroyed by toads does not seriously disturb tho balance of nature. Under 

 certain co-.ditions, as in greenhouses, gardens, farms, fields of small grain, 

 or golf courses, toa.ds are of service to man. Grfuiting that the' toad may bo 

 indiscriminate in the selection of food, in any of th^: abovv situations 

 noxious insects and other invertebrates arc sure to prcdomina-tc, hence tho 

 bulk of the toad's food consists of injurious forms. The value of the toad 

 can hardly be defined on a dollar and cents basis, for toads are never 

 numerous enough in any locality to be of especial economic importance. Furthe: 

 more, unlike birds, they are not endowed by iiatiixe with tho ability to tra- 

 verse wide stretches of land in order to aid in combating abnormal local in- 

 creases of insects and the like. 



, BibliOi'praphy 



Cope, E. D. Tlie Batrachia of North America; U. 3. Nat. kius. Bull. No. 3^i 

 pp. 1-525, pis. 1-79, 83, S6, and tc,vt fig.:. II9, Washington, I889. 



Dickerson, Mary C. The Frog Book; Doiobleday, Page & Co., pp. xvii+253. with 

 over 300 photographs (pis. I-96) , and text figs., I9O6, 



Gadov;, Hans. Amphibia and Reptiles; Cambridge Natural Flistory, vol. S, 

 pp. 37-3S, 272., London, I9OI. 



y 



