THE CANADIAN ENTOMOLOGIST, 131 



locust invasions have been recorded since 1333, when they appeared in 

 Germany. Mouffit states that in 1478 the country about Venice was 

 invaded, and 30,000 people died of famine. In France swarms appeared 

 at the close of the Middle Ages. In 1747 there was a great invasion of 

 Southern and Middle Europe. Before and after this date vast swarms 

 were observed in Asia and Africa. In Russia, whose southern plains 

 form the home of the locust, vast numbers have often appeared and done 

 great damage. In China records exist of the appearance of these insects 

 in devastating numbers 173 times during a period of 1,924. years. The 

 three great causes of famine in China are placed as flood, drought and 

 locusts. 



The new world has also its migratory locusts, equally destructive with 

 those of the old. The Rocky Mountain Locust, of which we all have 

 heard so much, is not the only species. Central and South America have 

 also their peculiar locust. Their ravages have been noted by the old 

 Spanish chroniclers of Mexico and the adjacent countries from the time 

 of the first conquest. In 1632 parts of Mexico were overrun with them, 

 and in 17-38 and '39 there was an invasion by them of the coasts of 

 Oaxaca, after which a famine occurred in Yucatan. In 1855 and '56 

 Honduras and Guatemala were invaded, and a famine and pestilence of 

 fever followed. And in 1835 Chili and the eastern part of South America 

 were infested with vast swarms of locusts. 



The Rocky Mountain Locust (Calopienus spretus) having been a 

 subject of observation by the most eminent Entomologists of the United 

 States, we know more about its habits and economy than about those of 

 any other species. The terrible devastations it has committed in the 

 Western States have led to this result. When an insect destroys the crops 

 in one year to the estimated value of $45,000,000, it is about time to 

 study its history and habits. Mr. Riley has published a most interesting 

 book on the subject, and from this I have culled a few of the most 

 striking items. Its home is on the elevated plateau of the Rocky Moun- 

 tains, whence it migrates in favorable seasons to the west and south for 

 hundreds of miles, laying waste the crops wherever it alights and doing 

 terrible damage. It breeds in the regions to which it migrates, and the 

 next generations migrate again north and west towards the " metropolis " 

 of the species, and gradually die out on the way, while those that remain 

 in the place of their birth also die out, so that the species becomes extinct 

 in these localities in a few years. 



