SUBFAMILY III. LOCUSTIX.E. 4-49 



"M. few oral its Bitnu, is identical with M. biiittattm in size, general 

 appearance and form of cerci and furcula, but differs mainly in the fact 

 that the posterior tibiae are red. It can but be considered as a mere color 

 form of this species by one observing the two in the field. It has no more 

 basis for specific distinction than have two other color forms which I have 

 occasionally taken one in which the hind tibiae are clear yellow through- 

 out, and the other having the hind tibiae entirely and almost uniformly 

 dark rose purple. All of these color forms, including the one termed fe- 

 moratus, occur together through the northern part of Minnesota, with 

 typical Mvitlatus, and I have on many occasions observed specimens in 

 coitu. in which the sexes had differently colored hind tibiae." 



As noted above, the known range of J/. birittatns is a wide one, 

 extending from Newfoundland, Nova Scotia, Hudson Bay and 

 Yeruon, B. C., south to North Carolina, the mountains of north- 

 ern Georgia, Texas and Old Mexico, and from the Atlantic to the 

 Pacific. While it is seldom if ever migratory like spretis and 

 allanis. it often occurs locally in sufficient numbers to be highly 

 injurious to clover, blue-grass and other forage plants. 



Bruner (1S93, 19) has well summed up its habits as follows: 



''Next to Dissosteira Carolina (L.) the two-striped locust is perhaps 

 the most familiar to the greatest number of people in the United States. 

 It occurs in nearly every locality over the entire country from the Sas- 

 katchewan River in the north to the Gulf of Mexico at the south, and from 

 ocean to ocean. It is found in the low valleys near the seashore and upon 

 the mountain slopes of the Rocky range and the interior plateaus to an 

 elevation of nearly 10,000 feet above tide water. In fact, this particular 

 species appears to be able to withstand more climatic variations than any 

 other of the North American species, without showing marked variations 

 in color and form. No wonder, then, that it occasionally becomes suffi- 

 ciently numerous over limited areas to do considerable injury to crops. 

 Like M. femur-rubrum and differentials, Mvittatus is a lover of rank and 

 succulent vegetation such as is found upon bottom lands, along the edges 

 of cultivated fields, at the margins of woodlands, and on the shaded moun- 

 tain slopes. When nature has specially favored the species, as it some- 

 times does, in the way of favorable climatic conditions, the absence of 

 enemies, etc., and it develops in large numbers, then these haunts are for- 

 saken to a greater or less extent and it spreads over cultivated fields, eat- 

 ing the choicest of everything. 



"The egg-laying habits of Mvittatus differ considerably from those of 

 the smaller migratory species, insomuch as but one or two clusters or pods 

 are deposited by a single female. Nevertheless, just as many eggs are laid 

 by each female insect. These eggs are deposited in prairie sod or any 

 compact soil in the vicinity of the regular haunts or feeding places. Old 

 roads and closely cropped pastures when located handily are favorite re- 

 sorts for the heavily-laden females when attending to this mission of 

 theirs. Conditions which favor the rapid multiplication of other locusts, 

 such as the migratory kinds, also favor the increase of this and other of 

 our native species. Hence when we hear of the increase and spread of 

 the former, we may also look for the latter to become more numerous. 



