434 University of California Publications in Zoology [Vol. ii 



Hymenoptera (Ants, Bees, and Wasps) 

 lehneumonidae Vespidae 



? Polistes aurifer Sauss. 



? Polistes minor Beauv. 



? Sphegidae 



? Ammophila sp. 



Mutillidae Formicidae 



Sphaerothalma californica Formacinae 



Sphaerotlialma aureola Caraponotus sp. 



Apidae Formica sp. 



(?) Apis mellifera Dolichoderinae 



Bombidae Tapinoma sessile Say 



Bombus californicus Smith Myrmicinae 



Chrysididae Messor andrei Mayr. 



Chrysis sp. Pogonomyrmex californicus 



Buckley 

 Pogonomyrmex sp. 



Quantity destroyed. — Bees and wasps form 3.6 per cent of 

 the yearly food. In no ease have ichneumon flies, which are 

 valuable parasitic insects, been taken in numbers, five being the 

 maximum found in a single stomach. Their rapid flight prob- 

 ably prevents a greater toll being taken. Ants are often eaten 

 in large quantities and form over two per cent of the food for 

 the year. It is not an uncommon occurrence to find a stomach 

 almost filled with ants. Over one hundred have been found in 

 a single stomach. 



Economic importance. — Most bees and wasps are considered 

 beneficial insects. Ants are either injurious or neutral; few are 

 beneficial. In the destruction of ichneumon files the western 

 meadowlark is destroying a valuable parasitic insect. The de- 

 struction of bees and wasps must also be reckoned as a count 

 against the bird. However, the small numbers destroyed mini- 

 mize greatly the real and the possible damage done. The 

 destruction of most kinds of ants makes little difference one way 

 or the other, owing to tlieir abundance and scavenger habits. 



Dipt era {Flies) 

 A few members of the family Muscidae, a few fiower-fiies 

 {Eristalis sp.) and crane-flies {Tipula sp.) and the pupae of 

 syrphid flies {Syrphus) are the only representatives of the 

 Diptera which have been found in the stomachs of western 

 meadowlarks. The following have been identified: 



