232 ENTOMOLOGY 



ing a pear tree was not at all molested, in spite of the fact that the tree 

 was tenanted by three broods of birds at the time, namely, kingbirds, 

 orchard orioles and English sparrows. The hairy arctiid caterpillars, 

 however, are eaten by a few birds: the robin, bluebird, catbird, sparrow- 

 hawk, cuckoos and shrikes; and the spiny larvae of Vanessa antiopa by 

 cuckoos and the Baltimore oriole; while the hairy caterpillars of the gypsy 

 moth are known to be eaten in Massachusetts by no less than thirty-one 

 species of birds, notably cuckoos, Baltimore oriole, catbird, chickadee, 

 blue-jay, chipping sparrow, robin, vireos and the crow, these birds being 

 of no little assistance in the suppression of this pest. These are excep- 

 tional cases, however, and in general the hairiness of caterpillars appears 

 to be a highly effective protection against most birds. 



Stings. Some birds (chewink, young ducks) are fatally affected by 

 eating honey bees. The blue-jays, however, will eat Bombus and Xylo- 

 copa, and flycatchers and swallows feed habitually upon stinging Hymen- 

 optera, particularly Scoliidae, while a great many birds eat Myrmicidae, 

 or stinging ants. The formic acid of ants does not protect them from 

 wholesale destruction by birds; Judd found three thousand ants in the 

 stomach of a flicker. "Stingless ants pretend to sting but many birds 

 they do not deceive." The stinging caterpillar of Automeris io is occa- 

 sionally eaten by the yellow-billed cuckoo. Aside from these exceptions, 

 however, the stings of insects are an extremely efficient means of defence. 



Odors, Flavors and Irritants. The malodorous Heteroptera in 

 general are food for most birds; Lygus, Reduviidae and Pentatomidae are 

 eaten by song sparrows, and Euschistus by blackbirds and crows. The 

 odors of Heteroptera are by no means universally protective. 



Among Coleoptera, the showy, ill-scented or ill-flavored Coccinellidae 

 are eaten by but very few birds the flycatchers and swallows and are 

 refused by caged blue-jays and song sparrows even when these birds are 

 hungry. Of Chrysomelidae, the Colorado potato beetle is refused by the 

 catbird, blue-jay and song sparrow, and Diabrotica is not often eaten, 

 except by catbirds and thrushes. "The smaller Carabidae, whether 

 stinking or not, are eaten by practically all land birds." Crows, black- 

 birds and jays eagerly swallow Calosoma scrutator, and the first two birds 

 are especially fond of Harpalus caliginosus and H. pennsyhanicus, and 

 feed Galerita to their young. " A score of smaller Carabidae and Chryso- 

 melidae, metallic and conspicuously colored, are habitually eaten by 

 birds that have an abundance of other insect food to pick from." 



The stenches of Lampyridae appear to be more effective than those of 

 Carabidae. Telephorus is occasionally eaten, but Photinus rarely if at 



