8 



Stomaoh contents of 149 toads, loith percentage, hy bulk, of each food element. 



Food elements. 



Ants 



Cutworms 



Thousand-legged worms 



Tent caterpillars 



Ground beetles and allies . . . 



May beetles and allies 



Wireworm beetles and allies 



Weevils 



Miscellaneous caterpillars. . . 

 Grasshoppers, crickets 



Part, by 

 bdk. 



Percent. 



19 



16 



10 



9 



8 



6 



5 



5 



3 



3 



Food elements. 



Spiders 



Sow-bugs 



Potato beetles and allies 



Carrion beetles 



Miscellaneous beetles 



Snails 



Angleworms 



Vegetable detritus 



Gravel 



Unidentified animal matter 



Part, by 

 bulk. 



Percent. 



This table shows that at least 98 per cent of the toad's food is of 

 animal origin. The vegetable matter (1 per cent) was composed of 

 bits of grass, leaves, rotten wood, etc. , evidently swept in by accident 

 along with the insect food. It is in this way, doubtless, that gravel 

 (1 per cent) found its way into the stomachs. The unidentified 

 material consisted of broken parts of insects, animal tissue, etc. , which 

 were so finely ground as to be beyond recognition and probably repre- 

 sented injurious species in great part, although not so considered in 

 the table. 



The nature of the vegetable and mineral matter found in the stom- 

 achs needs no further mention. The animal matter recognized con- 

 stitutes 93 per cent of the total food, of which 77 per cent was insects 

 and 16 per cent other forms. As might be expected, nearly all the 

 animal matter is composed of terrestrial species or of forms which at 

 some time frequent the ground for shelter or migration. 



Worms. — The common angleworm was present in 14 stomachs, prin- 

 cipally in toads taken soon after showers, and formed 1 per cent of the 

 total food. Eains drive the worms to the surface, where they fall easy 

 victims to a particularly hungry toad. From studying toads in con- 

 finement, it appears that worms are not preferred by that animal as 

 an article of diet, but may be eaten. Worms are of great service in 

 tilling and aerating the soil, as Darwin has so well shown. On the 

 other hand, they often cause great annoyance in greenhouses and in 

 flower beds out of doors. Since the toad frequents the abodes of man, 

 it seems probable that the good done by worms in such localities may 

 well be offset by their damage as above mentioned. 



Snails. — Snails are a serious pest in greenhouses and gardens, where 

 their depredations on lettuce and other succulent plants are well 

 known. Several of the large naked snails common in gardens were 

 found in the stomachs, while, in the case of the shell-bearing snails, it 

 was found that the acid stomach juices of the toad were sufficient to 

 dissolve the shell in a short time. It seems a little strange that such 

 slow-moving animals should attract the attention of the toad, yet it is 

 apparent that the animal finds them suitable articles of food, as shown 

 by their constituting 1 per cent of the total stomach contents. 



196 



