4. Food and Food HabitsJournal of Animal Ecology, Vol. 38, No. 3 (Oct., 1969), pp. 805-806Published by: British Ecological SocietyStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/3064 .

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Abstracts 805

3. PARASITES

Afford, D. V. (1968). The biology and immature stages of Syntretus splendidus (Marshall) (Hymenoptera: Braconidae, Euphorinae), a parasite of adult bumblebees. Trans. R. ent. Soc. Lond. 120, 375-93.

Seven species of Bombus collected in Surrey were found to be hosts of Syntretus splendidus and in 1967 parasitism was 14-5%. Psithyrus is also occasionally attacked. Oviposition probably occurs whilst bees are foraging. The parasite larvae are gregarious (mean, twenty-three per bee) and their development and effect on the host are described.

Haen, P. J. & Ryan, B. (1967). Diplostomulum spathaceum (Rudolphi), a helminth new to Ireland. Ir. Nat. J. 15, 270-1.

From the eye-lenses of bream Abramis brama and other freshwater fish from a fish farm in Co. Tipperary and a canal in Co. Kildare.

Hansson, I. (1968). Cranial helminth parasites in species of Mustelidae. I. Frequency and damage in fresh mustelids from Sweden. Oikos, 19, 217-33.

Details from fresh skulls of fifty-five Mustela nivalis, 172 M. erminea, thirty-five M. putorius, 126 M. vison, ninety-seven Martes martes, thirty Meles meles and five Lutra lutra.

Hatch, C. (1968). Cryptocotyle lingua in Irish dogs. Vet. Rec. 83, 361. This trematode parasite of fish-eating birds and mammals, isolated from twenty-five out of 150 dogs,

represents the first record of this species in birds or mammals from Ireland. Its small size may have caused it to have been overlooked in the past.

Kennedy, C. R. (1966). The helminth parasites of some Irish freshwater fish. Ir. Nat. J. 15, 196-9.

Records of eleven species, seven new to Ireland, taken from 162 individuals of nine fish species, mainly from Co. Meath and Co. Westmeath in 1963-64.

Lane, M. R. (1968). Then the magicians said ... this is the finger of God. A study of myxoma- tosis and rabbit fleas in an artificial rabbit warren. Entomologist's mon. Mag. 104, 96-104.

Includes (among other things) many interesting and significant observations-the curious should explore further!

Michna, S. W. & Campbell, R. S. F. (1969). The isolation of Leptospira sejroe from the kidneys of aborting cattle. Vet. Rec. 84, 83-6.

Cattle may have acquired infection from pasture contaminated with urine from common shrews and short-tailed voles.

Perkins, E. J. (1968). The toxicity of oil emulsifiers to some inshore fauna. Fld Stud. 2 (Suppl.), 81-90.

Oil emulsifiers are extremely toxic producing 100%/ mortality at concentrations as low as 10 ppm sustained for 96 h. There appears to be a seasonal variation of median tolerance limits. Some animals are highly susceptible, e.g. whelk (Buccinum), while others are very resistant, e.g. winkle (Littorina littorea).

Young, P. C. (1969), Parasitic cutaneous lesions in a cod (Gadus morhua L.). Vet. Rec. 84, 99-100.

Case report of infection with a microsporidian parasite of the genus Plistophora.

4. FOOD AND FOOD HABITS

Avery, R. A. (1968). Food and feeding relations of three species of Triturus (Amphibia Urodela) during the aquatic phases. Oikos, 19, 408-12.

Stomach contents of 525 newts (adults and tadpoles) were examined. No differences were found between diets of Triturus vulgaris and T. helveticus, but the larger T. cristatus took bigger food.

Chambers, V. H. (1968). Pollens collected by species of Andrena (Hymenoptera : Apidae). Proc. R. ent. Soc. Lond. A, 43, 155-60.

Pollen loads of thirty-one species of Andrena in Bedfordshire are analysed. Each species forages on a wide variety of plants but A. varians and A. armata are more selective than others. A. armata avoids Umbelliferae and Compositae.

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806 Abstracts

Erlinge, S. (1968). Food studies on captive otters Lutra lutra L. Oikos, 19, 259-70. The hunting behaviour of otters was studied in relation to frogs, crayfish, and various species of fish.

Preferences varied with the availability of prey. Dead fish were taken by hungry otters, but otherwise moving ones were preferred.

Hutchinson, C. D. (1966). Feeding methods of herring gulls, Larus argentatus and great black- backed gull, Larus marinus on elvers. Ir. Nat. J. 15, 241.

Two species of gull diving for young Anguilla anguilla.

Morris, M. G. (1968). What is the usual foodplant of Apion waltoni Stephens (Col., Apionidae) in Britain? Entomologist's mon. Mag. 104, 95.

Answer-Hippocrepis comosa.

Pollard, D. F. W. & Davies, P. Walters- (1968). A preliminary study of the feeding of the Green- land white-fronted goose, Anser albifrons flavirostris in Cardiganshire. Wildfowl, 19, 108-16.

The severe winter of 1962-63 reduced the wintering population at Cors Tregaron from 500 to about 100, the loss being attributed to combined effectsof shooting and starvation. A technique of faecal analysis is described from which the preferred food indicated is the sedge Rhynchospora alba, while various grasses are eaten in spring.

5. MIGRATION, INTRODUCTIONS AND LOCAL DISTRIBUTION

Anon. (1968). Breeding birds-census scheme 1966. Peregrine, 3, 180-3. A census of breeding birds in the Isle of Man by 1 km squares, in connection with the national census

of the British Trust for Ornithology.

Askew, R. R. (1967). A report on the Eulophid (Hymenoptera . Chalcidoidea) fauna of two Scottish birch woods. J. nat. Hist. 1, 571-3.

A comparison of the fauna of Betula pendula and B. pubescens woods. The B. pubescens wood showed higher numbers and species diversity, and it is suggested that this is possibly due to the more efficient sampling of this species by sweep nets, due to its relatively dense foliage.

Baker, R. R. (1968). A possible method of evolution of the migratory habit in butterflies. Phil. Trans. R. Soc. B, 253, 309-41.

The author suggests that the migratory habit evolved as a consequence of the adults' search for larval food plants. While crossing areas devoid of food plants there would be a selective advantage in flying at a constant angle to the sun, the temperature gradient experienced during this acting as a selection pressure. The effect of temperature on the rate of development and fecundity of Pieris rapae and P. brassicae was demonstrated and from these a predicted flight angle was calculated for the two species. The observed flight angles for these species were found to agree very closely with the predicted ones.

Barrett, K. E. J. (1968). Ants of the Middle-Thames Area. Middle-Thames Nat. 20, 3-6. Ant species found in the area are listed with Ordnance Survey reference. Details are from the author's

own collection, but other published records are also included.

Baynes, E. S. A. (1967). Report on migrant insects in Ireland for 1966. Ir. Nat. J. 15, 277-80. All Lepidoptera.

Baynes, E. S. A. (1968). Report on migrant insects in Ireland for 1967. Ir. Nat. J. 16, 29-31. Nine species of Lepidoptera, four butterflies and five moths.

Cabot, D. (1967). The birds of Duvillaun More Island, Co. Mayo. Ir. Nat. J. 15, 357-9. Notes on twenty-two species, nineteen breeding.

Cabot, D. (1967). The birds of Bills Rocks, Co. Mayo. Ir. Nat. J. 15, 359-61. Eleven breeding species, some showing a severe decrease over the past 30 years.

Cawkell, E. M. (1966). East Sussex heronries. Hastings E. Suss. Nat. 10, 86-8. Annual censuses since 1935. Several heronries were eliminated by tree felling.

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