4 BULLETIN" 619, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



Diptera, found in 50 stomachs and forming the sole contents of 7, 

 stand next in the food of the martin. Eaten in every month in which 

 stomachs were taken, they amount to 16.09 per cent of the food. 

 They consisted largely of .the long-legged tipulids, better known as 

 daddy longlegs, whose larvae are destructive to the roots of grass. 

 Besides these, many of the Muscidse, the family of the common house 

 fly, were eaten, and a few specimens of robberflies (Asilidse) were 

 found. The latter are predacious insects and are said to be very de- 

 structive to bees. 



Hemiptera, found in 70 stomachs, amount to 14.58 per cent of the 

 food. They belong to several families, among the most abundant 

 of which are the Pentatomida? (stinkbugs), the Membracidse (tree 

 hoppers), and the Thyreocoridse (negro bugs). The notorious 

 squash bug (Anasa tristis) was found in 1 stomach. One stomach 

 contained 26 specimens of Nezara TiMaris, a pentatomid; others con- 

 tained, respectively, 27, 25, 11, and 8 individuals of Myoclocha ser- 

 Hpesf and several others a less number. This shows how freely these 

 bugs are eaten by the martin. Leptoglossus oppositus and Metapo- 

 dius femoratus, large bugs that do much damage to plants and fruit, 

 were found in two stomachs. 



Coleoptera, the insects next in order of abundance, amount to 12.53 

 per cent of the food. Of these, 1.28 per cent were useful beetles, 

 mostly Carabidse, or ground beetles, with a few tiger beetles. The 

 remainder belong to more or less harmful species. The Scarabseiclse, 

 or May-beetle family (5.21 per cent), were found in 47 stomachs and 

 are apparently the favorites. Many of them were small dung beetles 

 (Aphodius) , which hover over cow droppings in the early evening 

 and so are easily captured by martins. One stomach contained 75 

 individuals of a single species, and another 35. Some of the larger 

 flower beetles (Euphoria) also were taken, one form of which E. inda, 

 often destructive to fruit, was found in 6 stomachs. One stomach 

 contained 100 individuals of another small species of this family 

 (/Strigoderma pygmcea). 



Among the most interesting beetles found in the stomachs were 

 the Ehynchophora, or snout beetles. This group, commonly known 

 as weevils, includes some of the most destructive species known. 

 The cotton boll weevil (Anthonomus grandis) was found in two 

 stomachs. The clover weevil (Hypera punctata) was found in 

 nine stomachs, one of which contained 20, and others 17, 12, and 9 of 

 these destructive insects. Insects of the genus Balaninus, which bore 

 into and destroy nuts and large seeds, were found in 14 stomachs. 

 The genus Sitona in several of its species is destructive to clover 

 and allied plants ; in one martin's ^omach were found 53 individuals 

 of the species S. Mspidula and in another 16; in a third stomach 

 were 27 specimens of S. flavescens, also a pest. The strawberry 



