252 J0( RNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY, 1891. 



In this connection it is probable, that much remains to be discovered, as the 

 observations made upon other locusts in different parts of the world make it likely 

 that the Indian species is subject to the attack of many more predaceous animals 

 and parasites than have yet been recorded. 



In compiling this account of the movements of the locusts during the year 



1889-90, it has been found that much reliance can- 

 d ^iSwSo* thelOC ° 8t8 not always be placed upon the notices given m the 



reports of the tracks followed by the flights, as it is 

 quite evident that in many cases the first arrival of a night in a district was 

 unnoticed, and the direction, therefore, which has been given as that of its origin 

 is often little more than the direction in which it happened to be moving when it 

 crossed over some station, after it had been wandering about the district for some 

 time, this direction being consequently in many cases entirely different from that 

 from which it originally came. It has therefore been impossible to trace with any 

 approximation to accuracy the actual wanderings of each particular flight, and in 

 the following notes it is only the general directions of movement which are 

 indicated at all, and these only in cases where the information seems to be reliable, 



The locusts were first reported in June, 1889, when flights were observed in 

 Sind, and also in the Jodhpur (Marwar), Jeysulmere, and Sirohi States of Raj- 

 putana. The only notice of the origin of this flight is in one of the Rajputana 

 reports, where they are said to have come partly from Sind and partly from Bika- 

 nir. Much reliance, however, cannot be placed upon this isolated statement, the 

 probabilities being that the flights in Western Rajputana originated chiefly in the 

 sand hills of that region. The origin of those in Sind is somewhat more problem- 

 atical, the most likely supposition being that they originated locally in the 

 sparsely vegetated sandy hills which are to be found in Sind itself, though it is 

 also possible that they flew across either from Baluchistan or from Western 

 Rajputana. 



In July, flights were noticed in Bikanir, whence they penetrated northwards into 

 Sirsa and westwards into the Jeypore State. Flights of uncertain origin were 

 abo noticed in the Shahpur district in the Punjab ; while young locusts hatched 

 out both in Jodhpur and in Ajmere-Merwara showing that winged flights had 

 been present in both these areas in the previous month, though they were not 

 noticed in Ajmere-Merwara. 



In August, 1889, young wingless locusts were present in the Jodhpur (.Marwar) 

 State, and in Ajmere-Merwara, acquiring wings towards the latter part of the 

 month. Winged locusts were again reported in the Jeypore and Bikanir States, 

 while a flight of uncertain origin appeared in the Dera Ismail Khan district of the 

 Punjab and deposited eggs. 



In September, 1889, the young locusts noticed in Jodhpur and Ajmere-Merwara 

 in the previous month seem to have commenced spreading in flights, as locusts 

 were noticed in all parts of Rajputana (Jeypur, Ulwar, Kerowli, Bundi, Shahpura, 

 Jhallawar, Ajmere-Merwara, and Bikanir). At the same time further spreading 



