110 
with another twenty per cent., and undetermined larvae of Coleoptera 
with about an equal ratio. Minute quantities of fungi were noticed 
in the stomachs of two of these beetles, and traces of undetermined 
algae in one. 
Two examples of E. sodalis, taken in the Tazewell county orchard, 
had consumed only insects, all canker-worms, except traces of an 
ant and a single gnat. 
The insect ratio of the food of the genus, as represented by these 
seven specimens, stands at ninety-three per cent. 
Genus Pterostichus. 
Thirteen specimens were dissected, representing P. permundus , P. 
sayi, and P. lucublandus. 
The number of each species is not sufficient to give distinctive 
food characters, and the genus may therefore best be treated as a 
whole. Seven of the specimens, taken in miscellaneous situations 
in Central Illinois, in April, May and September, had found about 
one-fourth of their food in the vegetable kingdom, about one-third 
of which consisted of fungi. Forty-three per cent, consisted of insects, 
and a single mite occurred in one of the beetles. 
Three specimens taken in the orchard infested by canker-worms 
had eaten vegetation to the amount of about one-fifth of their food. 
Caterpillars made eleven per cent., and undetermined insects two 
per cent., the remaining ratio being accounted for by the presence 
of liquid animal food. Two-thirds of the contents of three speci¬ 
mens taken among the cabbages consisted of animal matter, half of 
which was clearly recognized as the larvae of Agrotis annexa infest¬ 
ing the field; the remaining third, composing the entire food of one 
of the beetles, consisted wholly of fragments of grass.* 
Genus Amara. 
« 
Six specimens of this species were dissected, three of A. carinata, 
one of A. angustata, and two of A. impuncticollis. Three specimens 
of A. carinata taken in Southern Illinois in April, 1882, had eaten 
only vegetation, about one-fourth of the food being recognizable as 
fungi. Ninety per cent, of that of a single A. angustata , taken in June, 
consisted of mites, the remainder being fragments of grass. An A. 
impuncticollis , taken in the orchard with the canker-worms, had eaten 
only vegetable food, chiefly undetermined, but with traces of fungi. 
Another of the same species, from the cabbage field, had derived its 
food about equally from plant and animal sources, that from the 
former consisting chiefly of grass. 
Genus Dic^lus. 
Three examples of Diccclus elongatus had taken only animal food, 
as indicated by the fluid contents of the stomachs. One of these was 
found in the orchard and the other in Central Illinois. 
* A specimen of P. lucublandus was seen by Mr. F, M. Webster making a meal from a 
dead P. sayi. 
