﻿8 BULLETIN 1355, U. S. DEPABTMEISTT OP AGEICULTTJEE 



eacli year. As with the leaf beetles, any check on these forms is to 

 be welcomed, and a percentage as high as 2.7 is to be considered 

 favorable to the bird. Nearly a third of the individual birds had 

 taken this kind of food. 



Under the heading of weevils are grouped all members of the 

 suborder Rhynchophora, commonly known as curcuiios, billbugs, 

 bark beetles, and the like. Weevils or their remains were detected 

 in 141 of the stomachs and formed 1.13 per cent of the yearly suste- 

 nance. This percentage is small, but the average size of individuals 

 among the I^hynchophora also is small, much smaller than in the 

 preceding groups, and it is probable that the number cf individuals 

 represented is very large. Little good can be said of weevils. While 

 many species have not yet come into direct conflict with man, their 

 pernicious habits have been demonstrated by those which have; 

 and although the percentage of these beetles eaten by the red-eye is 

 relatively small, their consumption must be considered a favorable 

 economic tendency. 



Other miscellaneous beetle material formed less than 1 per cent 

 (0.78) of the red-eye's food. It would be difficult to determine the 

 economic status of these beetles as a whole. Certain families, as 

 the ground beetles (Carabidae) and rove beetles (Stapyhlinidae) , are 

 usually considered beneficial. The checkered beetles (Cleridae) are 

 beneficial and are now believed to be one of the most efiicient checks 

 on boring beetles. On the other hand, the forms which may be 

 called injurious are few; for instance, the deathwatch or drug-store 

 beetles (Ptinidae) and meal worms (larvae of Tenebrionidae) . 



Hemiptera. — Each year approximately 7.03 per cent of the food 

 eaten by a red-eyed vireo is composed of stink-bugs (Pentatomidae). 

 This famdy of insects includes the well-known harlequin cabbage 

 bug, and several other species injurious to man. In fall, when other 

 bugs and wasps become scarce, the red-eye eats a considerable 

 number of stink-bugs, the quantity taken in September forming 16.15 

 per cent of the total food, and during September and October they 

 are third in the list. The number of birds selecting this form, of diet 

 also is large, a total of 158, or over a fourth of those examined. 



The rest of the true bugs make up 8.33 per cent of the annual 

 food, but the frequency of their appearance in the stomachs is exactly 

 the reverse of that of the stink-bugs. In April the percentage is very 

 high, 20.26, and from then on it diminishes steadily, until in October 

 it is 0.29 per cent. Among the species identified from stomachs are 

 squash bugs, cicadas, scale insects, leaf hoppers, and assassin bugs. 

 Hemipterans appear attractive to this bird, and it was found that of 

 the stomachs examined 250 contained the remains of at least one 

 bug. The small bulk percentage of this item is due mainly to the 

 fact that most of the plant-infesting bugs are of small size. 



Hymenoptera. — Over half (321) of the stomachs contained the 

 remains of some species of the order which includes the wasps, bees, 

 ants, and most of the insect parasites. Of these forms, ants are the 

 most injurious and were taken by 93 of the birds. The remainder of 

 the group is for the most part beneficial, as in it are found innumer- 

 able minute parasitic forms which do much to prevent the earth 

 from being overrun with insects. Fortunately, the majority are so 

 small as to avoid the notice of birds. The wild bees, wasps, and 

 arger ichneumon flies, which are of service in the pollination of 



