194 



NATURAL HISTORY OF ARTHROPODS. 



FIG. 269. Acridium americanum. 



locusts of the Orient, and occurs also in portions of Central and South America. 

 Acridium shoshone, a large greenish species with yellow antennae, is met with in the 



great interior basin be- 

 tween the Wasatch and 

 the Sierra Nevada ranges, 

 where it is most com- 

 monly found upon and in 

 the vicinity of the small 

 mountain oaks ; while in 

 the eastern half of the 

 United States Acridium, 

 rubiginosum and Acri- 

 dium alutaceum are both 



known to possess similar habits. Acridium americanum is one of our most common 

 and handsome species, and, as will be seen by reference to the illustration, bears 

 a close resemblance to the migratory species of the East. It sometimes assumes 

 the migratory habit, especially at the south, where it becomes somewhat injurious to 

 agriculture. Several other species of the genus are known to be truly migratory, in 

 various portions of Asia, and neighboring islands. The species hibernate at times in the 

 larva, or pupa state, but more often in the imago, or full-winged state. The genus has 

 recently been disintegrated, and a number of new generic 

 or sub-generic terms, of doubtful value, proposed. 



The "Lubber Grasshopper," or the Clumsy Locust, 

 of the plains, Brachystola magna, which we herewith 

 figure, is a peculiar insect, confined to the central portion 

 of North America, and is tolerably common on the western 

 plains, where it slowly hops about, like a young toad, and 

 shows a disposition to keep in the shade. It is a very 

 awkward insect in its movements, and when disturbed, 

 and caused to jump, it almost invariably turns a complete 

 somersault, or alights upon its head. 



A great many species of North American locusts be- 

 long to the genus Caloptenus. Several of these are known 

 to be migratory at times, and one of them is habitually so. 

 Most of the species prefer to live about vegetation, more 

 or less rank and succulent, though there is considerable 

 diversity of habit among them. While a few of the spe- 

 cies are widespread and omnivorous, many others are 

 local, and confined to particular food-plants. Of the 

 former, Caloptenus femur-rubrum, the Red-thighed Locust, 

 is found throughout North America. Caloptenus atlanis, 

 a closely allied species, intermediate between it and the 

 true migratory lociist of this country, has an equally wide 

 range. This species becomes very numerous and destructive at times, when it also 

 exhibits the migratory habit in a limited degree. It is the species which has done the 

 greatest injury in the New England States at various periods in the past. In parts of 

 Oregon and Washington Territory it has also, at times, proved injurious. Caloptenus 

 differentialis and Caloptenus bivittatus, our two largest species, are met with in low, 



FIG. 270. Brachystola magna, 

 clumsy locust. 



