494 Recent Literature. [oct. 



can kill a small tree and if two or three are present they are almost certain 

 to cause death. The author of an extensive bulletin on this pest, states 

 that he has seen evidences that woodpeckers prey upon the species in Ozark 

 orchards, and that other natural enemies are few. 1 Other entomologists 

 have testified to the value of woodpeckers in destroying larvse of various 

 species of Saperda, but it will be well also to draw attention to the fact 

 that other birds feed upon adult Saperda and are of some value in keeping 

 the species in check. These birds, so far as known, include the Magpie, 

 Bluejay, Cassin's Kingbird, Red-eyed Vireo and Robin. 



The southern corn rootworm ( Diabrotica duodecimpunctata) . This 

 abundant flower beetle is the most familiar black-spotted yellow beetle 

 over the whole United States. It is seriously destructive to corn in the 

 southeastern states, its ravages frequently necessitating replanting. Full 

 credit is given to its bird enemies in a Bureau of Entomology publication, 2 

 but more recent information makes it possible to improve upon the account. 

 Thirty-seven species of birds are known to feed upon this species of Dia- 

 brotica. The largest number of specimens found in the stomach of a single 

 bird was 18 taken by a Cliff Swallow. Twenty-three species of birds are 

 known as enemies of the southwestern rootworm, a form which although 

 called a separate species ( D. soror) probably is only varietally distinct. 

 The Diabrotica are typical of what are called warningly colored insects 

 and which are supposed to be more or less shielded from predatory attack. 

 The relations of birds to them however, give little comfort to believers in 

 this theory. 



The southern green plant-bug (Nezara viridula). This insect agrees 

 with the last discussed, in being a pest in the south, and in belonging to 

 the category of theoretically protected insects. The basis for the latter 

 thought is alluded to in a recent statement 3 about bird enemies. " In 

 spite of the disagreeable odor of the species of the genus, the Bureau of 

 Biological Survey has recorded finding specimens of Nezara in the stomachs 

 of certain birds, but it appears to have been always hilaris that was found. 

 N. viridula is probably also eaten." 



Confirmation of this prophecy is now at hand as N. viridula has been 

 identified in a number of stomachs of Franklin's Gull. From 20 to 40 

 specimens of the bug were taken by individual birds. The species has been 

 found also in the stomach of Say's Phcebe. Probably many of the speci- 

 mens from bird stomachs identified merely to the genus Nezara were of the 

 species viridula for there is no reason to believe that discrimination would 

 be shown. Thirty-one different kinds of birds are known to feed upon 

 Nezara, further unidentified, and no fewer than 26 specimens were obtained 

 from the stomach of a Purple Martin and 100 from a Franklin's Gull. 



i Becker, Geo. G. Bull. 146, Ark. Agr. Exp. Sta., July 1918, p. 25. 



2 Luginbill, Philip. The southern corn rootworm and farm practices to control it. 

 Farmers' Bull. 950, U. S. Dept. Agr., May 1918, p. 8. 



3 Jones, Thos. H. The southern green plant-bug. Bull. 689, U. S. Dept. Agr., July 30, 

 1918, p. 21. 



