THE CANADIAN ENTOMOLOGIST. 195 



group which are native to North America, are to be counted as injurious, 

 the particular one that has been the dread of the whole country, and 

 especially of the region lying between the Mississippi River and the 

 Rocky Mountains, is the Migratory species, Melanophis spretiis. This 

 insect is now on the increase in a limited area on our northern 

 boundary and across the line in the province of Manitoba. By 

 continuing the prompt and energetic efforts that are being carried out by 

 the populace and State authorities of the States of Minnesota and North 

 Dakota we can be assured of success only provided the Canadian Govern- 

 ment will also see the advantage of co-operation at this time. This, let 

 me state, is all the more necessary at this particular time, as all reports 

 seem to indicate that at present this locust is not present in abnormal 

 numbers in any other part of the country. A stamping out of the pest in 

 this region might, therefore, give immunity from their further injury for 

 many years to come. 



Finally, let me urge on the inhabitants of all infested regions that a 

 "stitch in time saves nine." In other words, we do not know what the 

 climatic conditions may be a year hence, whether they will be such as to 

 favour the hoppers or not, so we had best do the wise thing and stamp out 

 the pest. This has been done time and again in the past, and the recent 

 work in the north shows how very profitable is the warfare when carried 

 on persistently. By the plowing under of the eggs laid last fall, and the 

 use of the kerosene pa ns or hopper-dozers in the destruction of the young 

 locusts that did hatch, the twelve counties in the two States of Minne- 

 sota and North Dakota saved by actual computation on wheat alone the 

 neat little sum of $400,000. This, mind you, in a year not considered a 

 locust year, and not to take into consideration what was saved to the 

 region for other crops and the injury that might have resulted next year 

 had the hoppers not been destroyed. With every favouring circumstance, 

 the comparatively few locusts of this one species that have thus far been 

 destroyed, the present year in this region would have been sufficient to 

 overrun at least calculation the entire area of the State of Minnesota, the 

 two Dakotas and Nebraska, along with portions of Iowa and Kansas. 

 True, these favouring circumstances might never occur, but it is always 

 best to be on the safe side. This we should know from our past experi- 

 ence with this same insect. 



" Native " locusts, while perhaps not to be dreaded equally as much as 

 the species just spoken of, certainly can commit an equal amount of 

 injury when size and numbers of the insects are taken into consideration. 



