

RILEY ON ITS INSECTIVOROUS HABITS. 117 



rious to our forest and shade trees, chiefly the oaks, and in certain years strip them 

 entirely. The greater damage, however, is done hy the larva to strawberry plants, 

 lawns, and meadows. As the beetles retire during the day in the ground and are 

 often but slightly covered with soil, they are easily captured. 



Liopus sp. — The leg of one specimen of this Longicorn beetle was found in stomach 

 5712, not sufficient to determine the species. All the species live in the smaller dead 

 branches and twigs of various forost trees, chiefly of hickory and oak They are not 

 found in healthy and living wood. 



Colaspis brunnea Fab. — Two specimens of this beetle were found in stomachs 195 

 and 5701. It is very abundant throughout the Atlantic region of the United States 

 and extends as far southwest as Arizona. It occurs in various forms, some of which 

 have been distinguished by namfl. The variety flavida is distinctly distinguished by 

 jts bright-yeilow color and prominent elevated ridges between the deeply punctured 

 sutures; costipennis is a southern form and has the ridges tinted with metallic green. 

 It riddles the leaves of the wild and cultivated grape-vine, greedily devours the 

 leaves of strawberries, and is found upon a multitude of wild plants such as the Po- 

 tentilla. Its life-history is recorded in my Third Annual Report on the Insects of 

 Missouri (1871, pp. 81-84) and Fourth do. (1872, p. 34), The larva feeds on straw- 

 berry roots, among which it can be found all through the fall, winter, and spring 

 months; assumes the pupa state in June, and the beetles appear during that month 

 and continue to issue in decreasing numbers till toward fall. 



Chrysomelid. — Very young larvae, not recognizable with certainty, were found in 

 stomach 16. 



Ciijetocnema denttculata 111. — Specimens of these beetles (about 40) were found 

 in 12 different stomachs, viz . 5535, 5537, 5662, 5701, 5713, 5924, 5940, 5946, 5970, 6110, 

 6151, and 6229. 



This beetle is very common in grassy places, and is found upon all kinds of low, 

 herbaceous plants. Its life-history is not known, but we are justified in assuming 

 that the larva is either a leaf-miner or subsists upon roots. From the fact that the 

 beetle is numerous and that its life-history has not yet been discovered, it can hardly 

 be classed among noxious insects. 



Wings and legs of a small chrysomelid were found in stomach 97, but not of suffi- 

 cient size to determine the species. 



Sitones sp. — Stomach 196 contained two mutilated specimens of a snout-beetle of 

 the above genus too much broken to identify specifically This genus occurs all over 

 the Northern Hemisphere, and the species are very difficult to classify if not perfectly 

 fresh. Many of the North American species occur also in Europe, and are, perhaps, 

 introduced. The life- hi story of several of these insects is known in Europe and the 

 larvae of some of them are said to make a cocoon like that made byPhytonomus; but 

 the larvae of most of them lead a subterranean life, and chiefly about the roots of 

 clover and allied plants, sometimes doing more or less damage. The life-history of 

 Sitones Uavescens Allard is recorded by Mr. Webster in my last Annual Report (for 1886) 

 as United States Entomologist (p. 580. ) It occurs in autumn in the beetle state perfora- 

 ting the leaves of White Clover. The larva, of the usual Curculionid shape, is found 

 among the roots of White Clover, and also bores into the crown, thus checkiug the 

 growth of the plant or killing it outright. The pupa is found in a snug little cell 

 amongst the roots. 



Sphexophorus parvultjs.— Quite a number (at least 25) of the remains of this 

 species were found in 19 different stomachs, viz : Nos. 2131, 2133, 5523, 5532, 5533, 5536, 

 5537, 5538, 5544, 5545, 5548, 5549, 5916, 5917, 5924, 5946, 5951, 6018, and 6089. 



So far as known the species all burrow in the stems or roots of plants and, if nu- 

 merous, do much damage to young corn. The life-history of S. parvulus, according 

 to Mr. Lugger's observations and my own unpublished notes, is as follows: The 

 mother beetle always selects the flower-stem of grasses and lays one or more eggs 

 just above the second knot, which at this place is very soft and tender. The slit 



