STATE AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY. 1G3 



veiy bad locust year in many parts of California, including Sierra 

 A^allej^ In Fresno County the eggs hatched in May, and the females 

 deposited eggs the same year, June 21st, both hatching and egg-lay- 

 ing occurring a month earlier than in previous years. It was this 

 season that locusts appeared in Southern California so numerously in 

 a belt of land from Point Concepcion to Santa Barbara, and were so 

 carefully observed by Elwood Cooper. 



"The anatom}' of an insect is a microcosm; its life ti poem." From 

 any elementary work on zoology we may learn that the class of insects 

 beloaig to the second great branch of the animal kingdom called the 

 Ariicidata. These animals possess bi-lateral symmetry, like the tirst 

 b> ranch of the vertebrates, but the ])lan of structure is widely different. 



Articulata comprises all animals which are divided transversely 

 into rings or joints more or less movable upon each other, and whose 

 hard parts are external. The alimentary canal lies in the center of 

 the body, and above it extends the heart. The nervous system con- 

 sists of a sort of brain, which lies above the cesophagus, from which 

 two threads, passing around the throat, extend beneath the alimentary 

 canal, along the floor of the body, and connect at intervals with 

 small nervous centers or gcnigb'a, whence arise the nerves of the body 

 and limbs. The number of these ganglia generally correspond with 

 the number of the segments of the body, and each seems to fulfill 

 the functions of a brain. Articulates embrace insects, crustaceans, 

 and worms. 



The Class of Insects comprises all articulates whose respiratory 

 apparatus consists of spiracles, air holes for breathing, placed along 

 the sides of the body and connected with a system of trachea or air 

 tubes which branch throughout the interior of the body. It includes 

 insects proper, spiders, and myriapods. Insects proper have the bodj'' 

 divided into three plainly marked regions— head, thorax or chest, 

 and abdomen or hind body. The head is furnished with eyes, 

 antennae, and mouth; to the thorax are appended the legs and wings, 

 when these exist; and the abdomen contains the principal organs of 

 digestion, the viscera, etc. The eyes, though apparent!}^ onlj" two, are 

 really compound, each consisting of many single eyes closely united 

 and motionless. Many winged insects have one, two, or three (as the 

 locust) ocelli or simple eyelets, on the crown of the head. The mouth 

 parts are modified in some groups, for chewing purposes — in others, 

 as sucking organs. The legs are six in number, and are attached to 

 the under side of the thorax, one pair to each of the three rings. The 

 leg consists of the coxa or hip piece, iiiQ femur or thigh, the tibia or 

 shank, and tarsi or foot — the latter consisting of several (three in the 

 locust) pieces connected, and end terminating in one or two claws. 

 The wings are wanting, or two, or four, as in the locust, and attached 

 in pairs to the upper part of the middle segment of the thorax, if but 

 two, or to the middle and posterior segments, if three or four wings. 

 The forward wings of the locust are long, narrow, and thicker than 

 the hinder, which are broad, thin, membranous, and most active in 

 flight. They are folded u]) like a fan when at rest, and tucked away 

 •out of sight under the fore wings wdiich act as covers — hence often 

 called elytra, meaning a cover or case. 



The head of a locust is composed mainly of a single piece called 

 epicranium, which carries the eyes, the ocelli, and the antenna). In 

 front of the epicraniwrn is the clijpens, a piece nearly twice as broad as 

 long. To the clypens is attached the labrum, or upper lip, a loose flap 



