Division of Entomology. 



The following paper on the habits and food of the American toad 

 has been prepared by my assistant, Mr. Kirkland, from obseivations 

 made while in the employ of the Gypsy Moth Committee. The 

 results obtained form a considerable addition to our knowledge of 

 the habits and food of the toad and are published here by permission 

 of the committee. 



C. H. Feknald. 



The Habits, Food and Economic Value 



OF THE 



AMERICAN TOAD, 



Bufo lentiginosus americanus (LeC.) 



By A. H. Kirkland, M. S., 

 Assistant Entomologist to the Gypsy Motli Committee. 



The investigations forming the basis of this paper were made by 

 the writer at spare moments during the summer of 1896. They 

 were not undertaken with a view of exhausting the subject, but 

 rather as an attempt to obtain some adequate idea of the value or 

 non-value of the toad as a destroyer of insects. During the sum- 

 mer of 1895, while studying the habits of the natural enemies of the 

 gypsy moth, the writer observed that in brushlands, large numbers 

 of this insect were destroyed by the toad. To gain farther informa- 

 tion concerning its feeding habits, the available literature on batra- 

 chians was consulted with the result that an abundance of generali- 

 ties was found with but few detailed statements of fact. By agri- 

 culturists the toad is considered a beneficial creature ; by some 



