38 BIRDS OF CALIFORNIA AFFECTING FRUIT INDUSTRY. 



horsefly (Tabanidse) were the only ones identified. Grasshoppers and 

 crickets are not extensively eaten by the phoebe. They amount to 

 about 2 J percent for the year, being eaten rather irregularly; five 

 months show none at all. The greatest consumption was in April, 

 nearly 8 percent. 



Moths and caterpillars are eaten to the extent of 8 percent. They 

 were found in 72 stomachs — moths in 38, caterpillars in 32, and both 

 in 2. A few unidentified insects and several miscellaneous ones, 

 principally dragonflies, with some spiders, make up the rest of the 

 animal food, 6 percent. Dragonflies are taken quite frequently, but 

 generally in no great numbers. One stomach was entirely filled with 

 them, and several were nearly so. The fact is, these insects are so 

 large that often a single one fills a phoebe' s stomach. These insects 

 are too strong and agile upon the wing to be captured by anything less 

 expert than a flycatcher, and in the few instances where they appear in 

 other birds' stomachs they were probably found dead. The spiders 

 eaten by the phoebe are perhaps snapped from the tops of weeds as 

 the bird flies over, or taken from the web. While quite frequently 

 eaten, they form only a small percentage of the diet. 



The following is a list of insects identified in the stomachs of the 

 black phoebe : 



COLEOPTERA. 



Elaphrus riparius. Carpophilus hemipterus. 



Trisena longula. Heterocerus tristis. 



Brady cellus rupestris. Canthon sp. 



Laccobius ellipticus. Aphodius granarius. 



Philonthus pubes. Aphodius vittatus. 



Hippodamia convergens. Aphodius ungulatus. 



Coccinella transversoguttata. Amphicoma ursina. 



Coccinella calif ornica. Gastroidea sp. 



Chilocorus orbus. Lina scripta. 



Cryptorhopalum apicale. Diabrotica soror. 



Hister bimaculatus. Blapstinus pulverulentus. 



Saprinus obscurus. Corphyra sp. 



Saprinus lugens. .Notoxus alamedx. 

 Saprinus lubricus. 



HEMIPTERA. 



Hygrotrechus sp. Largus succinctus. 



In addition to the above species the following families of Hemiptera 

 were identified: 



Giant water bugs (Belostomatidse). Chinch-bug family (Lygaeidae). 



Creeping water bugs (Naucoridae). Stink bugs (Pentatomidae). 

 Broad-shouldered water striders(Veliidae). Leafhoppers (Jassidae). 



Water striders (Hydrobatidae). Tree hoppers (Membracidse). 



Assassin bugs (Reduviidae). Jumping plant lice (Psyllidae). 



Leaf bugs (Capsidae). Plant lice (Aphididae). 

 Red bugs (Pyrrhocoridae). 



