FALSE WIREWORMS OF PACIFIC NORTHWEST. 85 



Dr. Blaisdell 1 refers to the ground owl (Speotyto cunicularia 

 Jiypogsea) as one of their enemies, and further states that the butcher 

 bird impales them on thorns. 



It is very generally known among the farmers of the wheat regions 

 of the Pacific Northwest that the Brewer's blackbirds (Eupliagus 

 cyanocepJialus) follow the plow and eat the "white worms" (Eleodes 

 pupae) when the summer-fallow is being worked. The birds are to 

 be seen walking in the furrows and flying away with their beaks 

 filled with the soft white pupae. 



The western bluebirds (Sialia mexicana occidentalis) were seen at 

 Govan, Wash., in large flocks feeding on the larvae which had been 

 driven to the surface by an unusually heavy rain. 



The stomachs of several horned toads (PJirynosoma douglasii 

 douglasii) were examined and found to contain fragments of Eleodes 

 larvae, but several of these toads kept in captivity refused to eat 

 the adult beetles, though they would feed voraciously on other 

 beetles. These little horned toads, or, as they are locally known, 

 sand toads, are without doubt one of the most valuable animals in 

 the western dry -farming regions. In the Southwest a larger species 

 (Phrynosoma cornutum), with long stout spines on the head, sup- 

 plants the former species. These toads move very rapidly and eat 

 enormous numbers of insects. The garden toad (Bufo sp.) is re- 

 corded in the files of the Bureau of Biological Survey as feeding on 

 Eleodes. Dr. Blaisdell 2 gives the skunk as a natural enemy of 

 these beetles. 



In the files of the Bureau of Entomology there is a note (No. 8186) 

 by Mr. Theo. Pergande, wherein he records having received two 

 larvae from McPherson, Kans. These pupated, and later one of 

 these pupae was killed by an ant {Tetramorium csespitum) . 



Another of Mr. Pergande' s notes 3 records receiving an adult of 

 Eleodes suturalis from Mr. C. E. Ward, of Belvidere, Nebr. This 

 beetle was placed in a cigar box, and on examining the box on the 

 following morning a large number of larvae were noticed crawling 

 about. These larvae later spun cocoons around the edge of the box 

 and were believed to be microgasterid parasites that had issued 

 from the beetle. The adult parasites were later determined as 

 Perilitus n. sp., and these are preserved in the National Museum 

 collections. 



The author found an adult beetle with the abdomen nearly filled 

 by a nematode worm, but lost the specimen, making further deter- 

 mination impossible. Mr. Myron Swenk 4 records a disease, prob- 

 ably caused by bacteria or a fungus, that attacks the larvae. The 



i Bui. 63, U. S. Nat. Mus., p. 29, 1909. . 

 2 Loc. pit., p. 29. 



3 Proc. Ent. Soc. Wash., vol. 2, pp. 211, 219, 1S92. 

 "- Jour. Econ. Ent., vol. 2, p. 335, 19C9. 



