MISCELLANEOUS. 87 



are at present doubtful in the history of these destructive creatures. The follow- 

 short account is therefore given of what is known on the subject, in the hope 

 that some of those who read it will assist in obtaining further information and 

 specimens, so as to enable a complete account to be drawn up for publication, iu 

 the report which is being prepared under the direction of the Trustees of the 

 Indian Museum, in connection with the general investigation of Economic Ento- 

 mology which has been undertaken. 



Iu the case of the locust of North -Western India, what are chiefly wanted are : 

 (1) authentic specimens taken in various places both of this year's locusts and 

 also of locusts which have proved destructive in former years, so that the identity 

 and distribution of the species may be definitely settled; (2) information as to the 

 permanent breeding-grounds from which the locusts come, and also as to the 

 number of broods and the production of a second generation, when breeding takes 

 place in the plains. Similar specimens and information will also be welcome in 

 the case of locusts which have at different times invaded other parts of India. 



Locusts can be at once killed and preserved by dropping them alive into a 

 bottle of strong alcohol {e.g., whisky) in which they will travel quite safely if care 

 is taken to fill the bottle so as to prevent jarring. 



Locusts appear from time to time over wide areas in North-Western, Western, 

 and Southern India, besides isolated flights which occasionally appear in the 

 western parts of Lower Bengal and in Assam. Records have been found of a 

 number of such invasions, many of them responsible for very serious damage. 

 Of these, the best known are the locust invasions of 1869 in Rajputana and the 

 Punjab, of 1878 in the Madras Presidency, and of 1882-83 in the Deccan. It is 

 to these three invasions then that we must chiefly direct our attention for an 

 understanding of the subject. 



The general received idea is that the locust which invades India belongs to the 

 species which is generally spoken of as A cridium peregrinum, and which is sup- 

 posed to have been the locust of the Bible. Acridium peregrinum is undoubtedly 

 the locust which in past years has periodically done gi'eat injury to crops in 

 Algeria, though recently a very different species has appeared there. The 

 identity, however, of Indian locusts has not as yet been by any means definitely 

 ascertained, and this is one of the points which require elucidation ; as far, how- 

 ever, as we at present know there seems reason to believe that while Acridium 

 peregrinum extends its ravages into the dry plains of the Punjab and Rajputana, the 

 locust which proved injurious iu Madras in 1878, and in the Deccan in 1882-83, 

 belongs to a very different species, which is probably Acridium succinctum. 

 In order, however, to settle the question, it will be necessary to examine further 

 specimens taken from destructive flights, which have appeared in various localities, 

 the material in the Indian Museum being at present insufficient. 



With regard to the natural history of locusts generally, we may observe that all 

 the different species which occur in various parts of the world, breed permanently 

 in barren elevated tracts where the vegetation is sparse. In years when they 



