fOOD HABITS. 41 



$15,000,000. Though still chiefly confined to Texas, in time it will 

 undoubtedly occupy the whole cotton belt and do a tremendous 

 amount of harm. The bobwhite is fond of this pest- F. M. Howard, 

 of Beeville, Tex., in writing to the Bureau of Entomology, says that 

 the crops of bobwhites shot at Beeville, Tex., were filled with these 

 weevils."* H. G. Wood, of Cuero, Tex., in a letter dated September 

 21, 1901, relating to the weevil scourge, says : 



Several of our business men and farmers are of the opinion that the quail 

 can be made a vehicle for the destruction of the cotton boll weevil. One farmer 

 reports his cotton fields full of quail, and the entire absence of weevils. He 

 found 47 weevils in the craw of one bird, i- * * i claim quail are the 

 greatest insect destroyers of all birds. * * * we propose to prohibit the 

 killing of quail in this county this season, hoping thereby to save a great por- 

 tion of the cotton crop next season. 



The click beetles, the larvae of which are the wireworms so inim- 

 ical to corn and other plants of the grass family; scarahmid beetles, 

 though in smaller numbers; dung beetles, when numerous, and May 

 beetles, parents of the injurious white grub, are eaten by the bobwhite. 

 The May beetle {Lachnosterna sp.) and its "near relative, Ligyrus gib- 

 iosus, were eagerly eaten by captive birds. The useful ladybirds 

 {GoccinellidcB) are sometimes found in the bird's crop, but, judging 

 from experii^ents with caged birds, do not appear to be highly rel- 

 ished. Adalia Inpunctata was several times offered and refused, but. 

 was finally eaten. The one harmful beetle of the family, the squash 

 ladybird {Epilachna borealis), has been found in stomachs and was 

 relished by captive birds. Certain miscellaneous beetles belonging 

 to different families are occasionally picked up, such as rove beetles, 

 soldier beetles, darkling beetles, histerid beetles, and longicorn beetles. 



LIST OF BEETLES EATEN. 



The beetles known to be eaten by the bobwhite include the fol- 

 lowing : 



Gbotjnd Beetles (Carabidfe) : Leaf Beetles — Continued. 



Scarites siibterraneiis. Nodonota tristis. 



Atiiara sp. Leptinotarsa decemlineata (potato 



Casnonia pennsi/lvanica. beetle). 



Platynus emtensicallig. Chrysomela pulchra. 



Agonoderus paUipes. Chrysomela sutiiralis. 



Harpalus pennsylraniciis. Cerotowa trifurcata (bean leaf- 



Harpalus calignoftKx. beetle). 



Anisodaotylus rusticux. Dialjrotica vittata (striped cucum- 



Anisodactyliis baltiiiiorensis. ber beetle). 



Leaf Beetles (Chrysomelidfe) : Diabrotica 12-punctata (twelve-spot- 



Lema trilmeata. ted cucumber beetle). 



CryptocepMlns veiiustus. (EdionycMs flmljriata. 



Colaspis hrunnea. Disonycha 5-vittata. 



f Circular 27, new series, Division of Entomology, p. 6, 1897. 



