144 



THE AJ^IERICAN ENTOMOLOGIST. 



DO TOADS EAT WORKER BEES ■ 



, we uncovered more tliiiii a dozen 

 nails wliich had alreadj' retired to winter quar- 

 Ijiit if I encounter any this year I shall destroy 

 \\ itliout mercy. I advise otiier bee keepers to do 

 llli>. Ch. Dadant. 



ii.ToN. III. , Sept. .'i, ItiiiS. 



To the above remark.s upon Mr. Dadaiifs let- 

 ter, by tlie Editors of the Bee Journal, the Edi- 

 tors of the AjtEuiCAX Ekto.mologist have to 

 add, that toads are upon the whole decidedly 

 beneficial to the cultivator of the soil, and should 

 be protected. If, however, as the Bee Journal 

 and Mr. Dadant assert, they devour spiders, 

 they are, so far as that propensity goes, injuri- 

 ous ; for all spiders without exception are canni- 

 bals and prey largely upon insects, and chiefly 

 upon the i)lant-feoding or injurious species. 

 Again: the millipedes properly so called are 

 some few of them, (genus lulus), injurious by 

 feeding upon the roots of plants, the rest of 

 them living upon dead organic matter. There- 

 fore, if toads eat millipedes {Chilognathu) 

 they arc blameless. Bnt all the centipedes, 

 {Synynatha) which may be distinguished from 

 the true millipedes by running very fast, in- 

 stead of crawling along like a fly in a glue- 

 pot — are cannibals; and as thej- live under- 

 ground and prey upon those most unmanageable 

 of all the multitudinous foes of the farmer, the 

 subterranean root-feeding larvae, should be sed- 

 ulously cherished and protected. Therefore, if 

 toads should eat centipedes, they do wrong. On 

 the other hand — for there are no perfect and an- 

 gelic reptiles, any more than there arc perfect and 

 angelic men and women— toads are particularly 

 fond of strawbprrie.<. Even T)r.Triml>l('. the State 



Entomologist of Xew Jersey, who cannot find it 

 in his benevolent heart to make war upon any 

 living animal possessed of a backbone ( Verte- 

 brnta), and who even pleads the cause of those 

 unmitigated pests of the fruit-grower, the Cedar- 

 bird and the Baltimore Oriole, candidly owns 

 up that a toad may sometimes be seen devour- 

 ing a strawberry.* But even if toads swept 

 away whole acres of strawberries and depopu- 

 lated entire apiaries, that is no reason why those, 

 wlio grow neither strawberries nor bees, should 

 exterminate them in the usual unmerciful man- 

 ner. 



We confess to a sneaking kindness for the 

 Toad. lie is a sober quiet philosophical gentle- 

 man, not disturbing our nervous systems by 

 jumping wildly with a noisy splurge into the near- 

 est pond or pool, but pursuing the even tenor of 

 his way at that slow and decorous and moderate 

 pace, which Cicero thought to be the only one 

 that became the fine old Roman gentleman. Be- 

 sides, like every other animal when it is healthy 

 and in the pi'imeof lite,thetoadisreallyhandsome. 

 Take him up with your thumb and finger, raad- 

 aiii. grasping him just behind the head — you 

 need not be afraid of him — he cannot hurt you, 

 even if he was so inclined. Xow examine his 

 eye ; and if you have a jewel about your person 

 that is more brilliant and displays a more taste- 

 ful arrangement of colors, you are a fortunate 

 woman. Beyond all doubt it must have been 

 to the eye of the Toad, and not to any supposed 

 internal mineral, that Shakspeare referred when 

 he asserted of that reptile that 



He bears a precious jeweUn his liead. 



On(^e more we repeat that the Toad, as a gen- 

 eral rule, should be protected and spared, and 

 when possible purpo.sely introduced into gar- 

 dens. Make his acquaintance; and you will 

 find that, as with certain classes of men popu- 

 larly known as "rough diamonds," (he more 

 you get to know of him the better you will like 

 him. 



Eiut.vTA IX Xo. G. — On page KU, line 20 of 

 note, for •• one-third of tlie way," read "two- 

 thirds of the way." On page 108, column 1, 

 line l.'i from bottom, for ''Early in the spring," 

 read " Early in June." Same page, column 2, 

 line 8 from bottom, for "Early in the spring" 

 read '• Towards the end of May." On page 1 U, 

 column 2, line 20, for " Some markings" read 

 " Some yellowish markings." On page 118, 

 column 2. line 20 from bottom, for " flower- 

 hunting." read " flower-haunting." 



