352 



THE LOCUST 



egg bores into the body of the grasshopper and feeds until it 

 is ready to be transformed into the adult. It then forces its way 

 to the outside, killing its host. Again, there are species of wasps 

 that capture grasshoppers and paralyze them with their stings 



{cf. Figs. 201 and 202, 

 p. 388). The paralyzed 

 "hopper" is then car- 

 ried to the burrow, in 

 which the wasp lays 

 its eggs attached to 

 the body of the victim 

 which thus serves as 

 food for the developing 

 larvse. Fungus diseases 

 are often epidemic, 

 destroying large num- 

 bers of the young and 

 adults (Fig. 175). 



In a season when 

 some or all of these 

 checks upon increase fail 

 to function to the usual 

 extent, a plague of 

 grasshoppers may occur. 

 At such times various 

 methods may be em- 

 ployed to combat the 

 outbreak, such as 

 poisoning the adults or 

 burning the grass in 

 which the young have hatched in the spring. None, however, is 

 so satisfactory as destruction of the eggs in the soil. This may be 

 accomplished by plowing in the late fall or early spring in order 

 that the eggs, which He near the surface, may be turned under so 

 deeply that the young cannot escape even if they succeed in 

 hatching. Deep harrowing in spring and fall is also effective. 



Internal Organization. — The internal structure is much the 

 same in all species of grasshoppers and locusts. What follows 

 is applicable in general to any of the common species, but particu- 

 larly to the Carolina locust, Dissosteira Carolina. 



Fig. 175. — Locusts killed by a fungus disease. 



(From Bulletin No. 172, South Dakota Agr. Exp. Sta.) 



