Locust

The genus as thus characterized is represented in the territory embraced in our observations by a number of species, several of which are so„„ closely allied to C. spretus that it in difficult for any but an experienced entomologist to determine to which a specimen belongs. We think it more than likely that future investigations will show that seveial of the species which have been described as distinct, are but varieties of other closely allied species. C. bilituratus, Washing ton Territory, has been observed at hut one or two points. There are but three species, femur rubrum, spretus, and atlanis,which require special mention in this connection, as they are the only ones generally distributed which are so closely allied to each other as to render it difficult to dis tinguish them. Caloptenus spretus, Thomas. As every fact relating to the histoiy and habits of this species is either of economic or scientific interest, we give here a brief history of its nomen clature. About 1860, Mr. Thomas, then residing in Southern Illinois, sent some specimens of Orthoptera collected in that locality, to Dr. P. R. Uhler, of Baltimore, Md., for determination; among those returned was one marked Acridium spreti,, with a note stating that it was new. In a paper written by Mr. Thomas on Insects injuri ous to vegetation in Illinois, in 1862, he describes a species of locust under the name A. spretis Uhler, as follows: general color a dark, brown ish purple, with dusky points and lighter rays. Head brown, with dusky points; antennie red dish yellow. Thorax an ashy brown, with a velvety luster on the anterior half, the latter half punctured; the lower edges, at the sides, paler —sometimes pale red, at others almost white. Elytra extending about half over the abdomen (or not exceeding two thirds),marked along their internal margins with a light, reddish-brown ray; external margin dusky; a few dusky dots along the internal margins. Wings not quite as long as the elytra; transparent, pale yellowish on the disk, tinged with red at the base (in recent specimens). Posterior thighs crossed by two black bands, and black at the knees; intermedi ate spaces pale yellow—often almost white. Length of female, one inch and three-eighths; of the male, slightly over an inch. This species is quite common here, along the road-side and among low weeds and grass. In Mr. Scudder's Catalogue of the Orthoptera of North America, published in 1868, it is mentioned under the name Aeridiuni spretum Uhler. No description of the species having been published previous to the appearance of the Synopsis of the Acridiche of North America, Mr. Thomas describes it as follows : Very much like C. fem217'-rilbrUM,Burm. , the principal difference being in the length of the elytra and wings, a notch at the tip of the last ( 8) ventral segment. Posterior lobe of the pronotum slightly expanding; median somewhat distinct. Elytra and wings pass the abdomen about one third their length. The last ( 8) vent ral segment,which is turned up almost vertically, is somewhat tapering and is notched at the apex, which distinguishes it from the femur-rubrum; the notch is small, but is distinct. Prosternal spine, robust, subcylindrical, transverse. Migra tory. Color, scarcely distinct from the C.femur rub in . The occiput and disk of' the pronotum generally reddish-brown ; the posterior lobe some what paler than the anterior and middle. Spots as in foriur.rabrum, arranged in a line along the middle of the elytra ; these are a little larger and more abundant toward the apex. The head and thorax are sometimes a very dark olive-brown, at others reddish-brown and even brownish-yel low, the color deepening with age. The wings are pellucid, nerves dusky toward the apex; when flying high ant against the sun, their wings look like large snoin-flakes. Dimensions: Length (to tip of abdomen) 1 to 1.2 inches; elytra as long as the body; posterior femora, 0.55 inch; posterior tibiie, 0.5 inch. 8 Length, 0.85 to 1 inch; elytra, 0.9 to 1.05 inch. (The sign 8 , signifies male; , female.—Editor.) In relation to the chronological history, the commission say: The history of the American or Rocky Mountain locust is in nearly all respects parallel with that of the locust of the Old World. It breeds over a large continental area, and periodically, in seasons of extreme drought and other favoring meteorological conditions, migrates in immense hordes for several hundred miles beyond its usual habitat. Unlike the locust of the Eastern Hemisphere, our species naturally affects the cooler and more elevated portions of the tem perate zone in the New -World, though its southern limits extend at times into the hot and dry plains of the Great Basin. Fitful and periodical in its visits to the older, settled por tions of the West, the history of the Rocky Mountain locust is difficult to trace beyond a period of about thirteen years. Previous to the year 1864 it had been rarely referred to by travelers in the West, and after examining the reports of the government expeditions and the works of Lewis and Clark, Pike, Irving, and others, we find little or no mention made of it. It is a question in our mind whether in some regions it may not have increased in numbers since the Far West has been partially settled, particularly in those regions where irrigation has been practiced, as in Utah and Colorado and in the western edge of the Mississippi Valley, as in Nebraska, Kansas, Iowa, and Minnesota; but this is entirely uncertain, and it is more reason able to suppose that as the Western Territories become more thickly settled the numbers of locusts will become diminished. In treating of the history of locust invasions, we will first con sider the subject in a very general way, and then state the facts more concisely, arranged accord ing to separate States and Territories; and, thirdly, present a summary of the subject in a tabular view. The latter is calculated to send a chill to the agricultural heart when one sees how dense the figures are from 1864 until 1877, and to lead one to infer that the evil is waxing greater and greater as the years go on. This may be due, however, to the gTeater extent of the country settled and to the fact that the pop ulation is growing denser and denser. However that may be, we shall deal with facts and not with theories, and would remind the reader that in a number of the years there recorded large harvests resulted, the injury done by locusts being local and only confined to a portion of the season, while in 1877 the largest wheat harvest ever grown was safely harvested. Leaving out of account the locust visitations in the Atlantic and Pacific States, which were made by different species frorn the Rocky 'Mountain locust, the first authentic statement is to be found in Neill's History of Minnesota, wherein it is stated that in 1818 and 1819 vast hordes of grasshoppers appeared in Minnesota, eating everything in their course, in some cases the ground being covered three or four inches thick. In the same years they were destructive in the Red River country in Manitoba. In 1820, or the succeed ing year, they ravaged the western conties of Missouri, and Riley suggests that the 1820 swarms may have also ravaged Kansas and the neighboring regions northward. In 1842, locusts appeared in Minnesota and Wyoming ; in 1845, in Texas; in 1846 and 1847, in the limits of what is now Wyoming; and in 1849 in Texas, and possibly in Minnesota. In Utah they have appeared from 1851 until 1877, except only the _years 1873 and 1874, and a glance at the table ,shows that this Territory is liable to suffer annually more or less, especially in the northern portion. Vast swarms of locusts were seen in Idaho in 1852, as well as in Utah, while Dakota was visited, or had native swarms, in 1853. The year 1854 was a year for locusts in Texas, Kansas, and Utah, and 1855, notable for locust ravacres on the Pacific coast, was not a bad year .eastNexas only having been invaded, although A. S. Taylor states that they abounded on the immense grassy prairies lying on the eastern slopes of the Rocky mountains, a statement supported by no facts, so far as we can learn. In the year 1856, however, locusts prevailed in 'Texas, Kansas, Iowa, Minnesota, possibly Wyom ing and Utah, and in the succeeding year they committed extensive ravages in Manitoba, and 'the States mentioned as suffering in 1856, with the addition of Nebraska. The States of Texas and Nebraska received slight injury from the pro geny- of those that migrated thither the previous two years. In 1860, the region about Topeka, Kan., was visited by what must have been a limited and rather local swarm. The year 1861 witnessed the presence of locusts in Nebraska, Montana, and Utah, hut the accounts are scanty. Montana and Utah sustained losses from locusts in 1862, but in 1863 they occurred not only in those territories, but also in Dakota and Min nesota. But the most decided increase in the numbers of locusts was felt in 1864, a year of _general visitation in Utah, Montana, Dakota, Colorado, portions of New Mexico, and east of the plains in Nebraska, Iowa, Minnesota, as -well as Manitoba, and there were resulting swarms, in most cases the progeny of those which came in 1864, in Iowa, Minnesota, Dakota, and Manitoba, while Montana, Colorado, and northern New Mexico had swarms of their own. A notable locust year was 1866, and, as Riley states, the injury committed was sufficiently great and wide-spread to attract national atten tion. The insects swarmed over the Northwest and did great damage in Kansas, Nebraska, and northeastern Texas, and invaded the western counties of Missouri very much ;is they did in 1874. They came, however, about a month later than in that year. They were often so tbick that trains were seriously delayed on account of the immense numbers crushed on the track. Iowa, Minnesota, Colorado, and Utah also suf fered. While in 1867 local damage was done in the spring by the young of the swarms of the previous year, late in the surnmer new swarms flew across the plains from the West and North -vvest, and invaded the border States; in fact, the same States suffered as in 1866, as will be seen by a glance at the tabular view. In 1868 and 1869, local injuries ensued from the ravages of the unfledged locust early in the season, and reports from Montana, Idaho, Dakota, Colorado, And Utah show that there was some trouble in those territories. The year 1870 was a season of -comparative immunity from locust invasions, though Iowa and Minnesota received some swarms, and the insects were observed in Dakota, Idaho, Wyoming, and Utah. Kansas received slight injury from these pests in 1872, as well as Minnesota, Dakota, Montana, Color ado, and Utah, but it was not 'narked. In 1873, the hosts gathered for a fresh onslaught upon the agricultural region bordering the great plains. The invasion of 1873, says Riley, was pretty general over a strip of country running from the northern parts of Colorado and southern parts of Wyoming, through Nebraska and Dakota, to the southwestern counties of Minne sota, and northwestern counties of Iowa, the injury being most felt in the last two more thickly settled States. The insects ponred in upon this country during the summer and laid their eggs in all the more eastern portions reached. The cry of distress that went up from the afflicted people of Minnesota in the fall of that year is still fresh in mind, and the pioneers of Western Iowa, in addition to the locust devastations, suffered severe damage from a terrific tornado. By far the most disastrous locust year, however, was 1874, as the more thickly settled portions of the Mississippi Valley west of the ninety-fourth meridian were invaded by dense and most destructive swarms. The States of Colorado, Nebraska, and Kansas were overrun, while por tions of Wyoming, Dakota, Minnesota, Iowa, Missouri, New Mexico, Indian Territory, and Texas were ravaged by swarms from the North west, as they were abundant that year in Mon tana and in British America. The loss to these States and territories was estimated at not much less than $50,000,000. Much of the loss this year resulted from the progeny of the invaders of 1873, which early in the season devoured the crops of the region where they hatched, and eventually spread to the southeast. Kansas suf fered, perhaps, more heavily than any other State. This, like most other locust years, was one of long-continued drought, and in Missouri the evil was complicated by the ravages of the chinch-bug. The next year (1875) the young hatched in immense numbers over an area vari ously estimated at from 250 to 350 miles from north to south and from 200 to 270 miles from east to west, embracing portions of Nebraska, Kansas, and Missouri. The tract in which the injury done by the destructive enemy was worst was confined to the two western tiers of coun ties in Missouri, and the four tiers of counties in Kansas, bounded by the Missouri river on the east The greatest damage extended over a strip twenty-five miles each side of the Missouri river, from Omaha to Kansas City, and then extended south to the southwestern limit of Missouri. About three-quarters of a million of people were, to a greater or less extent, made sufferers. The experience of different localities was not equal or uniform. Contiguous farms somethnes pre sented the contrast of abundance and utter want, according to the caprices of the invaders, or according as they hatched in localities favorable to the laying of the eggs. This fact gave rise to contradictory reports, each particular locality generalizing from its own experience. The fact is, however, that over the region described there was a very general devastation, involving the destruction of three-fourths of all field and gar den crops. While the injury was greatest in the area defined above, the insects hatched in more or less injurious numbers from Texas to British America, the prevalence of the insects in Mam toba being such that in many parts little or no cultivation was attempted. (Riley.) Missouri had never before been visited by a calamity so appalling and so disastrous in its results as the locust ravages of 1875, and detailed returns of the damage done in that State showed a loss of over $15,000,000. (Riley.) In 1876 no trouble was experienced in the spring, there being in the border States little damage done by the young, except in portions of Minnesota and Colorado, and it was hoped that no further losses would ensue this year. But locusts bred in great quan tities in Montana, and in British America, north of this territory, and in Wyoming, Dakota, and Colorado, this being a year of unusual drought in those territories, and in August and the autumn following, immense swarms swept over the plains, falling upon the larger part of Kansas and Nebraska, the western half of Iowa, and some of the western counties in Missouri, and reaching into the Indian Territory, Texas, and the north west corner of Arkansas. Besides this, local swarms hatching in Minnesota early in the year flew south and southwest into Iowa and Nebraska, and they laid eggs in August. The spring of 1877 opened with dismal prospects all over the States east of the plains, as well as in Colorado. Happily it was a spring in which there was an unusual rain-fall in April, May, and June, the country along the Missouri being flooded in places. The weather was also excep tionally cool; and this condition of things extended over Colorado, northern Utah, Wyom ing, central Montana, and British America. In consequence of this season of wet and cold, the young hatched grasshoppers died in immense numbers, and comparatively few lived to acquire wings. South of the parallel of 40° they flew, late in May and early in June, in a general northwest and northerly course; and from Min nesota and Iowa many took flight to Dakota and Montana, whence their progenitors came, and others remaining behind flew about irregularly in the States of Minnesota and Iowa. The six stages of growth of the Rocky Mountain locust, and their -metamorphoses, are described as fol lows: The Rocky Mountain locust requires on an average about seven weeks, from the time of hatching, to attain full growth. Belonging to an Order in which the tranformations are incom plete, the young locust differs but little in gene ral structure from its parent. The most strik ing differences are. the want of wings, and the less flattened, narrower prothorax, which rises from the sides more in the shape of a roof. The abdomen is also more roof-shaped. The perfect winged form is gradually assumed through a series of five molts, at the first four of which the wing-pads become more and more apparent, and at the last of which, from the pupa to the per fect state, the thorax becomes flattened, full wings are acquired, and the insect ceases to grow, except as the female abdomen becomes gravid and heavy with eggs. Yet with each molt, aside from the colorational changes, cer tain minute and less striking structural changes invariably take place, by observing which we may always know the comparative age and the particular stage of growth of any individual. 'European authors differ as to whether there are three, four, or five molts in the European migra tory species; but we have watched spretus from the egg to the imago, and thousands of mounted aud alcoholic specimens of all ages show the stages enumerated. The transition from the second to the third, however, is sometimes not very marked, and it is not improbable that, as is. the case with many other insects, the number of molts may vary according to the amount of nutrition and rapidity of development. The sexual characters are not well marked, and the sexes are consequently distinguished, with some difficulty in the first three stages. In the first pupal stage the differences become apparent, and in the true pupa the parts are sufficiently well formed to permit coition, which, as we have had evidence, exceptionally takes place thus. prematurely. The depth of coloring varies greatly in the immature stages, and the pale mediodorsal line, so conspicuous on sotne of the larvte, is. entirely wanting in others. The ground-color after the first stage varies from pale-yellowish gray, the common and typical color, to orange brown, and even black, and from pale yellow to. pure green. A marked green variety (var. Viri dis, Riley) occurs, in which the normal pale yellowish-gray parts are bright green, the green being first distinctly noticeable in the third lar val stage, and enduring to maturity. We have never seen this green variety among the fresh arrivals from the mountain regions, but it is con spicuous among its brown companions when hatching in the Temporary region, and constitu tes ordinarily about one in a thousand, though sometimes a much larger proportion, of the progeny of invading swarms. Like all creathres. which suffer exuviation or the shedding of skin, our locust quits feeding for a while, and remains. quiet during the process. The first three or larval skins are almost invariably shed on or near the ground, the young insects congregating under grass in little hollows or depressions, or under any shelter that offers for the purpose. The cast-off exuvize are often very abundant in such sheltered places, and are not infrequently, mistaken for dead locusts. The last two or pupal molts, on the contrary, more often take place above ground, the insect at these stages of groWth preferring to fasten to some elevated object. Immediately after each molt the whole body is soft and colorless, as it was immediately after hatching. In order to illustrate the inter esting process of molting; we will trace an indi vidual through the last molt—from the pupa to. the winged insect—as it is the most difficult, and, on account of the larger size of the animal, most easily watched. The other molts are very similar in mode of execution. When about to. acquire wings the pupa crawls up some post, weed, grass stalk, or other object. and clutches. such object secUrely with the hind feet, which are drawn up under the body. In doing so the. favorite position is with the head downward, though this is by no means essential. Remain ing motionless in this position for several hours, with antennze drawn down over the face, and the whole aspect betokening helplessness, the thorax, especially between the wiag-pads, is noticed to swell. Presently the skin along this swollen portion splits right along the middle of the head and thorax, starting by a transverse, curved suture between the eyes, and ending at the base of the abdomen. As soon as the skin is split, the soft and white fore body and head swell and gradually extrude more and more by tt series of muscular contortions; the new head.

:slowly emerges from the old skin, which, with its empty eyes, is worked back beneath, and the new feelers and legs are being drawn from their casings and the future wings from their sheaths. At the end of six or seven minutes our locust— no longer pupa and not yet imago—the four front pupa-legs being generally detached, and the insect hanging by the hooks of the hind feet, which were anchored while yet it had that com mand over them which it has now lost. The receding skin is transparent and loosened, espe cially from the extremities. In six or seven minutes more of arduous labor—of swelling and contracting—with an occasional brief respite, the _antenn and the four front legs are freed, and the fulled and crimped wings extricated. The soft front legs rapidly stiffen, and, holding.to its .support as well as may he with these, the nascent locust employs whatever muscular force it is capable of to draw out the end of the andomen and its long hind legs. This in a few more minutes it finally does, and with gait as unsteady as that of a new-dropped colt, it turns round and -clambers up the side of the shrunken, cast-off skin, and there rests while the wings expand and -every part of the body hardens and gains strength —the crooked limbs straightening, and the wings unfolding and expanding like the petals of some pale flower. The front wings are at first rolled longitudinally to a point, and as they expand and unroll, the hind wings, which are tucked and gathered along the veins, at first curl over them. In ten or fifteen minutes from the time of extri -cation these wings are fully expanded and hang down like dampened rags. From this point on the broad hind wings begin to fold up like fans beneath the narrower front ones, and in another ten minutes they have assumed the normal atti tude of rest. Meanwhile the pale colors which always belong to the insect while molting have been gradually giving way to the natural tints, and at this stage our new-fledged locust presents an aspect fresh and bright. If now we examine the cast-off skin, we shall find evely part entire with the exception of the rupture which origi nally took place on the back ; and it would puzzle one who had not witnessed the operation to divine how the now stiff hind shanks of the mature insect had been extricated from the bent skeleton left behind. They were in fact drawn over the bent knee-joint, so that during the pro cess they were doubled throughout their length. They were as supple at the time as an oil-soaked string, and for some time after extrication they show the effects of this severe bending by their curved appearance. The molting, from the bursting of the pupa-skin to the full adjustment cf the wings and straightening of the legs of the perfect insect, occupies less than three-quarters cf an hour, and sometimes hut half an hour. It takes pla,ce most frequently during the warmer part of the morning, and within an hour after the wings are once in position the parts have become sufficiently dry, and stiffened to enable the insect to move about with ease; and in another hour, with appetite sharpened by long fast, it joins its voracious comrades and tries its new jaws. The molting period, especially the last, is a very' critical one, and during the help lessness that belongs to it the unfortunate locust falls a prey to many enemies which otherwise -vvould not molest it, and not infrequently to the -voracity of the more active individuals of its own species. The differences in the immature stages between the Rocky Mountain, the Lesser, and the Red-legged Locusts are thus stated. Spretus, (the Rocky Mountain Locust) though palest when mature, has the most hlack in the immature stages, and its black face is quite characteristic. One who has great familiarity with these three species in life can distinguish them at any stage (they all three go through the saine number of molts), and can even distinguish between the exuvim, those of spretus being darkest, those of atlanis most gray and uniformly speckled, and those of fetnur-rubrum palest, with the black streaks more strongly contrasting. The con tinuation of the report is as follows: The eggs may he laid in almost any kind of soil, but by preference they are laid in hare, sandy places, especially on high, dry ground, which is toler ably compact and not loose. It is often stated that they are not laid in meadows and pastures, and that hard road-tracks are preferred; in truth, however, meadows and pastures, where the grass is closely grazed, are much used for ovipositing by the female; while on well traveled roads she seldom gets time to fulfill the act without being disturbed. Thus a well traveled road may present the appearance of being perfectly honey-combed with holes, when an examination will show that most of them are unfinished and contain no eggs; whereas a field covered with grass-stubble may show no signs of such holes and yet abound with eggs. In fact. wherever holes are noticed, it may generally be taken for granted that they contain no eggs, Ror the mother covers well the hole when she has time to properly complete her task. Further more, the insects are more readily noticed at their work along roads and road-sides than in fields, a fact which has also had something to do in forming the popular impression. Newly plowed land is not liked; it presents too loose a surface; but newly-broken sward is often filled with eggs. Moist or wet ground is generally avoided for the purpose under consideration. We have noticed that in the Permanent breeding region, wherever the vegetation is scant the females show a decided preference for the shaded base of shrubby plants, among the roots of which they like to place their eggs; whereas in the Temporary region, where the vegetation is generally so much ranker, exposed situations, or those comparatively hare of vegetation, are preferred. The experience of 1876 proved very conclusively, also, that they are instinctively guided toward cultivated fields, where the young will find good pasturage; for the eggs were noticeably thickest, and hatched most numer ously in 1877 in cultivated areas. In the Cypress Hills region of British America, as Mr. J. G. Kittson informs us, the high lands and protected slopes of the hills are preferred. The soil of the mountain-region, where the insects perman ently breed, is mostly of a compact, scantily covered, gravelly nature, and the notion that they lay most in pure sand is an erroneous one. Sandy soil that is compact, especially when having a south or east exposure, is much chosen, but in loose and shifting sand the eggs would perish. In 1876, it was generally remarked that the insects were more indifferent than usual in ovipositing, and that eggs were much more frequently laid in low, and even wet, laud than in former years. The mass seldom reaches more than an inch below the surface, except where some vegetable root has been followed down and devoured, and the insect leaves her eggs before emerging ; in this way the mass is sometimes placed a foot below the surface. In abnormal or unhealthy conditions, the eggs may be laid in exposed places without any hole, in which case they doubtless never give birth to young. In other cases, the female will fill her hole almost entirely with the sebific matter. Nor are the eggs invari ably laid in the ground, for while we know of no exceptions to this normal position in spretus, yet 1VIr. Boll informs us that around Dallas, Tex., in 1876, the eggs of differentidis were very num erously placed under the bark of elm and hack berry logs that had been felled on low lands. We have also received from A. W. Hoffmeiser, of Fort 1VIadison, Ia., some of the eggs of a species of Stenoboarus, and the young that hatched from them, the eggs having been thrust into holes made by some carpenter-bee in a fence-post; while Chldealtis eonspersa habitually bores in dead wood. The female, when ahout to lay her eggs, forces a hole in the ground by means of the two pairs of horny valves which open and shut at the tip of her abdomen, and which, from their pecu liar structure, are admirably fitted for the pur pose. With the valves closed she pushes the tips

into the ground, and by a series of muscular efforts and the continued opening and shutting of the valves she drills a hole, until in a few minutes (the time varying with the nature of the soil) nearly the whole abdomen is buried. The abdomen stretches to its utmost for this purpose especially at the middle, and the hole is generally a little curved, and always more or less oblique. Now, with bind legs hoisted straight above the back, and the shanks hugging more or less closely the thighs, she commences ovipositing. When the hole is once drilled there exudes from the tip of the body a frothy, mucous matter, which fills up the bottom of the hole, and bathes the horny valves. Tbis is the sebific fluid which is secreted by the sebific or cement gland. The mucous matter binds all the eggs in a mass, and when the last is laid, the mother devotes some time to filling up the somewhat narrower neck of the bur row with v, compact and cellulose mass of the same material, which, though light and easily penetrated, is more or less impervious to water, and forms a very excellent protection. When fresh, the mass is soft and moist, but it soon acquires a firm consistency. During the opera tion the female is very intent on her work, and may be gently approached without becoming alarmed, though when suddenly disturbed she makes great efforts to get away, and extricates her abdomen in the course of a few seconds, the time depending on the depth reached. The legs are almost always hoisted straight above the back during the process, with the shanks hugging more or less closely the thighs. Sometimes, however, especially when the abdomen is fully buried, the ends of the hind feet may rest firmly on the ground, as has been observed by Mr. Packard in the case of The time required for drilling the hole and completing the pod will vary according to the season and the temperature. During the latter part of October or early in November, 1876, when there was frost at night and the insects did not rouse from their chilled inactivity until nine o'clock a.m., the females scarce had time to complete the process during the four or five warmer hours of the day ; but with higher temperature not more than from two. to three hours would usually be required. The soils and locations. preferred by the female in ovipositing will be those in which the young will most freely hatch, viz, compact and sandy or gravelly knolls and hillside's, with a south or southeast exposure. The experience of 1877 shows also that hatching takes place very freely in late-mown meadows or prairies, or grazed pastures, where the exposure of the ground per mits ready oviposition, and the warmth of the sun. In dry, well-drained, and compact soils of a light nature the eggs are much better pre served than in heavy clays and loams, where they are more subject to mold and rot. The experience of 1877 is rather misleading on this. point, and indicates the necessity of generalizing, not from the experience of one, but of many years. The insects were most numerous, and seemed to batch most numerously in the low lands and in sheltered situations along river courses. The facts are that in such situations those which did batch survived in larger pro portions than did those which hatched in more exposed places because the former were better protected from the cold rains and storms of spring. Those eggs which are laid earliest the previous year will also hatch earliest, and since, as we have already seen the egg-laying covers an average period of six or eight weeks in the same locality, and lasts generally till frost, it follows that the eggs pass the winter in every state of development—some with the fluids clear and limpid; others with the embryo fully formed and ready at the first approach of spring to hatch. In the same locality hatching will take place— cceteris on light dry soils and on south and southeast exposures; latest on low, moist, and shaded or tenacious ground. We see, therefore, that the hatching will not alone vary according to temperature and the earliness or lateness of the spring, but that it is quite varia ble under the same conditions. In every instance there will be a few hatching when the first hatched in the same locality are getting wings, and we give it as a general rule that the bulk of the eggs hatch out in the different lati tudes about as follows: In Texas, from the middle to the last of March. In the southern portions of Missouri and Kansas, about the sec ond week in April. In the northern parts of 1VIissouri and Kansas and the southern sections of Iowa and Nebraska, the latter part of April and first of May. In 1VIinnesota and Dakota, the usual time of hatching ranges from early in May in the southern poftions to the third week in the northern extremity. In Montana and Manitoba, from the middle of May to the first of June. In short, the bulk of the insects hatch in ordinary seasons about the middle of March in latitude 35°, and continue to hatch most numer ously about four days later with each degree of latitude north, until along the forty-ninth parallel the same scenes are repeated that occurred in southern Texas seven or eight weeks before. The summary of our present knowledge of the locust is as follows : The eggs are laid an inch below the surface of the ground in July, August, and September, as the latitude varies; and the young hatch in April and May, becoming fledged in about seven weeks from early in June until the last, swarming from the first of July until the last of September. Birds and insects eat the eggs and young, and a mite, Tachina fly, and hair-worms infest the adults. While the Rocky Mountain locust occurs permanently on the eastern slope of the Rocky mountains, on the high, dry plateaux between 4,000 and 7,000 feet elevation, the district liable to its periodical invasions is between latitudes 30° and 52°, and longitudes 102° and 93'. It occurs, though of smaller size, in California and New England, and probably in British America from the Atlantic to the Pacific. Its migrations take place at irregular intervals during or after hot or dry seasons, when immense swarms are borne from the Rocky Mountain plateau by the pre vailing westerly and northwesterly winds, some times 500 or 1,000 miles into British America, Min nesota, Nebraska, Kansas, Missouri, and Texas, where they lay their eggs. The progeny of the emigrant swarms return the following season in a general northwest direction for at least hun dreds of miles, to near the original habitat on the plains. The periodical invasions may after a while be predicted with more or less certainty, should the Government take measures to appoint suitable persons to observe them, or delegate the task to the Weather-Signal Bureau ; meanwhile, by the use of the telegraph, the arrival of swarms may be announced several days in advance. In years of plenty in the border States and Terri tories, grain should be stored up for use in locust years. Preventive measures, such as planting of forests along lines of railroads, around towns and extensive farms; the use of oiling ditches and canals, bonfires and irrigation, prairie fires, rolling the soil, and collection of gg ; bounties to be paid by Government in the 'ereisritories, or by the local authorities in the States infested, for the egg-sacs. Co-operation farmers and others, in resisting the among attacks of insects, to be enforced by proper leg islation, both in the Territories and border States. We still need more light on the natural history and migrations of the locust, and the United States Government should appoint entomolo gists, who should study the locust comprehen sively for several years in succession. Local entomologists should be appointed for each Ter ritory, and the border State legislatures should appoint salaried entomologists to further study and report on the locust, and serve for a term of years, until the entire subject be studied, and the knowledge thus acquired be freely diffused among the agricultural community generally. In relation to the geographical distribution of the Rocky Mountain locust, a glance at the map, pages 602 and 603, showing the distribution of the Rocky Mountain locust (Caloptenus spretus), will show the prohable limits within which it will be found. At least there is no probability that the locust will ever afflict farmers east of the limits assigned. The eastern limits have been defined by Professor Riley, for Texas, Indian Territory, Missouri, Kansas, Nebraska and Min nesota, while the northern and northeastern limits have been indicated by Prof. G. M. Dawson. The southwestern limits are somewhat conjectural, but they have been indicated by Maj. J. W. Powell; also the western limits in Nevada and Idaho have been pointed out by Prof. Cyrus Thomas. The range of the small variety (atlanis?) in California and British Arnelica (Van couver's Island) has been indicated by Messrs. Edwards, S. H. Scudder, and Dr. Packard; while the eastern range of the eastern vari ety atlanis has been indicated by Messrs. Riley, Thomas, Scudder, and Dr. Packard. The locust area is divided into two regions, one the permanent breeding-places, on the elevated plains among the Rocky Mountains and the great plateau lying east and extending approximately to longitude 102°. Beyond the edge of the great plains are found the temporary breeding places of the locust, which comprise the prairie-lands of the border States as far east as longitude 93° or 94°. (The deeply shaded portions show the permanent breeding places; those shaded with single lines, the sub-permanent breeding places, and the dotted portions, the districts devastated by the migrating swarms in their periodic flights. Editor.) In dealing with this fearfully destruc tive insect, which has attracted so much notice from the public, and in seeking for remedies against its devastations, it is of prime importance to have a thorough knowledge of its breeding places, the frequency and extent of its migra tions, and to seek for the connection between the direction of the winds and other nrieteorological phenomena and the flights of the locust it,self. The locust is quite or nearly as destructive in Africa, Asia, and southern Europe as in this country, but the laws of their migrations and their connection with meteorological phenomena have never been studied in those regions, and it remains for the United States, with its Weather Signal Bureau, to institute, in connection with the scientific surveys of the West, investigations regarding the nature of the evil and the best means to overcome it. In endeavoring to trace the connection between the migrations of the locust and the course of the winds at different months, the writer has been led into some theo retical considerations which seem to be supported by the facts presented in the unpublished report, and which naay be confirmed or disproved by future investigations. The following table, com piled from the reports of A. g. Taylor, the late Mr. B. D. Walsh, Prof. C. V. Riley, Prof. C. Thomas, Mr. G. M. Dawson, and the observa tions of Mr. W. N. Byers, together with the reports in the Monthly Weather Review, will show the years when the locust was excessively abundant and destructive in the different Terri tories and States, and also serve to roughly indi cate the frequency and extent of the migrations of the destructive locust of the West. The dates which are starred are years when the progeny of the locusts of the preceding year abounded, and when in most cases there were no fresh incur sions from the westward. The species referred to under the head of California, Washington, and Oregon may be some other than Caloptenus spretus. This table and the data on which it is based are necessarily very imperfect, owing to the vast extent of the territory over which the locust swarmed, and the fact that the greater portion is uninhabited, while the inhabited por tions have been settled only within comparatively few years. It will be seen, however, that since for the hatching of the eggs laid the year previ ous, but for the growth and development of the larvte or young. Look now at the conditions for the development of locust life on the hot and dry plains, chiefly of Dakota, Montana, Wyoming, and Idaho. We have no extended meteorologi cal records from these regions at hand, but it is more than probable that the years preceding the migrations of the locusts were exceptionally warm and dry, when the soil was parched with long sustained droughts, as we know that the corresponding species east of the Mississippi river abounds during dry summers following dry and warm springs. Given, then, the exceptional years of drought and heat and the great extent of territory, and we have as the result vast num bers of young hatched out. The year previous having perhaps been warm and dry, the locusts would abound, and more eggs than usual would be laid. These would with remarkably few exceptions hatch, and the young soon consume the buffalo grass and other herbage, and move about from one region to another, following 1873 the evil has been greater and more wide spread than ever before. The immediate cause of the migrations of the locust from its original breeding places is the unusual abundance of the species during certain years. It has been found in some cases that the exceptional years when the locust migrates are periods of unusual heat and dryness, conditions unusually favorable to the excessive increase of insect life. As may be seen in the accounts of the eastern locust, the grass-army-worm, the grain-aphis, the chinch bug, and other less destructive insects, when the early part of the season, the spring and early weeks of summer, are warm and dry, without sudden changes of temperature, insects abound and enormously exceed their ordinary numbers. When two such seasons occur, 'one after the other, the conditions become still more favorable for the undue development of insect life. Now it is well known that in the Eastern States the summers of 1860 and 1874, preceding the appear ance of the army-worm and grain-aphis, were unusually warm and dry, and favorable not only often a determinate course in search of food. In this way large broods may migrate a long dis tance, from perhaps twenty to fifty miles. In about six or seven weeks they acquire wings. Experience shows that the western locust as soon a,s it is fledged rises up high in the air, some times a thousand feet or much higher. They have been seen to settle at night on the ground, eat during this time, and toward noon of the next day fill the air again with their glistening' wings. As more and more become fledged, the vast swarm exhausts the supply of food, and_ when the hosts are finally marshaled, new swarms joining perhaps the original one, the. whole swarm, possibly hundreds of miles in exte'nt, begins to fly off, borne by the prevailing westerly and northwesterly winds, in a generally easterly and southeasterly course. (It should be remembered that prevailing winds from a given direction will deflect the flight of the locusts north or south, according to the intensity and continuance of the winds. —Editor. ) Those plants the locusts do not like and which are usually cultivated are principally peas and other legu minous species, castor beans, sorghum, broom corn, tomatoes, sweet potatoes, etc. Such wild plants to which the insects are particularly par tial, as tansy, wild buckwheat, etc., might be periodically sprinkled with Paris Green water or powder, so as to kill the young locusts that feed upon them. Such plants might also be sown and encouraged around cultivated fields where the young insects are expected to hatch out. "These young will also congregate on timothy in preference to other grasses or grain, aud a strip of timothy around a corn or wheat field, to be poisoned in the same way, might save the latter. It is also currently supposed that the common larkspur (Delphinium) is poisonous to these insects, but how much truth there is in the state " ment we are unable to tell. Trapping can easily be accomplished, especially when the locusts are making their way from roads and hedges. The use of nets or seines, or long strips of muslin, on only by its aid, and where means are already extensively provided for the artificial irrigation of large areas. Where the ground is light and porous, prolonged and excessive moisture will cause most of the eggs to perish, and irrigation in autumn or in spring may prove beneficial. Yet, experiments prove that it is by no means as effectual as is generally believed, and as most writers have assumed to be the case. In pastures or in fields where hogs, cattle, or horses can be confined when the ground is not frozen, many if not most of the locust eggs will be destroyed by the rooting and traniping. The eggs are fre quently placed where none of the above means of destroying them can be employed. In such cases they should be collected and destroyed by the inhabitants, and the State should offer some inducement in the way of bounty for such collec tion and destruction. Every bushel of eggs destroyed is equivalent to a hundred acres of corn saved, and when we consider the amount of .calico, or similar materials, converging after the -manner of quail nets, have proved very satisfac tory. By digging pits or holes three or four feet deep, and then staking the two wings so that they converge toward them, large numbers may be secured in this way after the dew is off the ground, or they may be headed off vvhen march ing in a given direction. 1Vluch good can he accomplished by changing the position of the trap while the locusts are yet small and congre gate in isolated or particular patches. Many machines have been made for trapping locusts. We illustrate the one invented by Dr. C.V. Riley, which will be found simple and effective. Irrigation is feasible iu much of the country sub ject to locust ravages, especially in the mountain regions, where, except in unusually favorable locations, agriculture can be successfully carried destruction caused by the young, and that the ground is often known to be filled with eggs; that, in other words, the earth is sown with the seeds of future destruction, it is surprising that more legislation has not been had, looking to their extermination. One of the most rapid ways of collecting the eggs, especially where they are numerous and in light soils,is to slice off about an inch of the soil by a trowel or spade, and then cart the egg-laden earth to some sheltered place where it may be allowed to dry, when it may be sieved so as to separate the eggs and egg masses from the dirt. The eggs thus collected may easily be destroyed by burying them in deep pits, providing the ground be packed hard on the surface. In the thickly settled portions of Europe, where labor is abundant and cheap,this method may be adopted with some advantage, but it will scarcely be employed in this country, except as a means of earning a bounty, when, in the more thickly settled sections, it will prove beneficial and give employment to young people and others who have nothing else to do. In relation to the destruction of the young or un fledged locusts, the commission say : It is with some degree of pride that we point to the fact that this part of the locust problem is solved. The experience of 1877 has added much to our knowledge of the practical and feasible ways of destroying the young locusts, and has firmly established the fact which we had previously maintained, that, with proper means, effort, and co-operation, the farmer, in the more fertile and set tled portions of the country liable to their injury, may successfully cope with them ; that, in short, he can protect his crops against them with about as little labor and expense as he must annually employ to protect most of these same crops from weeds. Farmers themselves were surprised at what could be accomplished by well-directed, intelligent effort; and it was the almost universal testimony that there need be, in future, no serious fear of the young insects, even where little effort has previously been made to destroy the eggs. In the destruction of the young, no methods that will not sweep them away in wholesale fashion have any value for our Western farmers, however valuable they may be to the owner of a small flower or truck garden. It is for this reason that we have been able to profit so little by European methods, and have had to invent means suitable to our broad Western fields and the extensive nature of our farming operations. The best that most European authors can advise is the killing of the insects with flattened imple ments or brush; while Gerstacker and other writers devote page after page to prove the superiority over other methods of catching the insects with hand nets—a method which, while doubtless of some utility irk dense German settle ments,would prove absolutely futile on our large and scattered prairie-farms and against the excessive numbers of the pests which our farmers have to deal with. While, therefore, we shall mention all available means that have been or may be employed, we shall devote more es pecial attention to those which are useful in a broad and general way in the field. Experience has shown that the results of any particular measure will vary in different regions, dependent, to some extent, upon the nature of the soil, the condition of the crops, and the gen eral characteristics of indigenous vegetation. Cir cumstances may also render some particular mea sure available and profitable to one farmer where it would be unprofitable to another. For con venience, the means of accomplishing the desired result may be classified into : Burning, crushing, trapping, catching, and use of destructive agents. Burning is, perhaps, the best in prairie and wheat-growing regions, which compose the larger part of the area subject to devastation by this locust. In such regions there is usually more or less old straw or hay which may be scattered over or around the field in heaps and windrows, and into which the locusts, for some time after they hatch, may be driven and burned. During cold or damp weather they congregate of their own accord under such shelter, when they may be destroyed by burning, without the necessity of previous driving. Much has been said for and against the beneficial results of burning the prairies in the spring. This is chiefly beneficial around cultivated fields or along the roadsides, from which the locusts may be driven, or from which they will of themselves pass for the shel ter the prairie affords. Scarcely any eggs are laid in rank prairie, and the general impression that locusts are slaughtered by myriads in burn ing extensive areas is an erroneous one, at least in the Temporary region. In burning extensive prairies after the bulk of the locusts hatch, the nests and eggs of many game birds are destroyed; but as the birds themselves escape destruction on the wing, they may and do return and nest again, while, on the contrary, many injurious insects, like the chinch-bug, for instance, are killed, so that, even leaving the locust question out of con sideration, the burning proves beneficial by exter minating other noxious insects, and has some advantages from an agricultural point of view. As locusts disperse more and more from their hatching-grounds into the prairie as they develop, burning the grass in spring is beneficial in pro portion as it is delayed. Machines for burning have been used in several localities with consid erable success. Mr. J. Hetzel, of Longmont, Col., has employed a machine drawn by horses. It is twelve feet long, from two to two and a half feet wide, made of iron, and set on runners four inches high. An open grate on the top of the runners is filled with pitch-pine wood, a metal sheet covering the grate to keep the heat directed downward. The grate is generally made with a net-work of heavy wire, such as telegraph wire. Two men and a team can readily burn from ten to twelve acres a day, and kill two-thirds of the insects, but for this it requires a hot fire. Hand burners, consisting of any form of pan or grate, or wire sieves, with handle attached, to hold com bustible material, will do excellent service in gardens and small inclosures. There is another method by which large numbers of locusts can be burned, consisting merely of a bundle of rags or tow, which, after being attached to long wire or iron rods and saturated with kerosene, can be ignited and carried over the field. This method has been quite satisfactorily used in Colorado. A stout wire, say forty feet long, is thoroughly enveloped in rags soaked in coal oil. A small wire is wound around the rags to keep them place, and the simple device is complete. Two men carry this rope, after setting fire to the rags, across the field to and fro until the fuel is exhausted ; and as it is not necessary to pass over the same ground more than once or twice, a large field of grain can be thus protected during the half hour or so that the rags burn. The effect is that of a miniature prairie fire. To destroy locusts satisfactorily by crushing, can only be advantage ously accomplished where the ground is smooth and hard. Where the surface of the ground pre sents this character, heavy rolling can be success fully employed, especially in the mornings and evenings of the first eight or ten days after the newly-hatched young have made their appearance, as they are generally sluggish during those times, and huddle together until after sunrise. It is also advantageously employed during cold weather at any time of day, since the young when the temperature is low seek shelter under clods, etc. Harrowing in the autumn, or during dry, mild weather in early winter, will prove one of the most effectual modes of destroying the eggs and preventing future injury, wherever it is available. It should be enforced by legal enactment, whenever the soil in any region is known to be abundantly stocked with eggs. A revolving harrow or a cultivator will do excellent service in this way, not only in the field, but along road ways and other bare and uncultivated places. The. object should be, not to stir deeply but to scarify and pulverize as much as possible the soil to about the depth of an inch. Where the cultivator is used, it would he well to pass over the ground again with a drag or a brush harrow for this pur pose. Some of our correspondents have urged, and with some reason, that wherever land can con veniently be prepared to induce the females to oviposit in it, as by plowing and then rolling when the insects are beginning to breed, such preparations should be made. A subsequent har rowing will be the more easy. In practice, this method will not often he adopted, because it will pay only under exceptional circumstances. Next to harrowing, plowing is oue of the most gener ally available means possessed by the farmer of dealing with locust eggs, and it is well to fully understand how it may be made most effectual in destroying them. As showing something of this, and the depth at which the locusts should be buried, the following series of experiments was made with eggs obtained at Manhattan, Kan., early in November, and similar in condition to those in the first series: Large tin cylindrical boxes, made of different depths, and Varying from four to eight inches in diameter, were used; and in order to hasten the result they were kept indoors at the temperature already mentioned. The soil in all the boxes was finely comminuted and kept in uniform and moderately moist con dition. It was gently pressed with the fingers, so as to approach in compactne,ss the surface soil of a well-cultivated garden. In each instance the eggs were placed in the center of the box. A large number of eggs were buried at different depths outdoors where they were under natural conditions of soil pressure and temperature. The soil was a tolerably stiff yellow clay, and was pretty well compacted by many heavy rains, after the frost was thawed out. The results of the outdoor experiments comport with those made in thu boxes. The eggs being placed at every depth from one to eighteen inches, and each batch covered with a wire screen, the result was accur ately determined. All at one inch below the sur face hatched; about one-third of those at two inches managed to escape, and none from any greater depth. Examined May 12, they had hatched down to a depth of twelve inches, and worked their way upwaid, and horizontally, seldom extending more than one inch in the for mer, or more than two inches in the latter direc tion. Most of those at greater depths were at that time unhatched. In looser soil they would doubtless have managed to push somewhat further.