Packakd.] edible IXSECTS. 123 



ewan river on the North to Texas. Mr, Scuddcr states 

 that "a third, whether belonging to the same species or not 

 is still uncertain, has invaded, at different times, nearly all 

 the country lying within the boundaries of the United States 

 between the Rocky Mountains and the Pacific Ocean." 



Dr. Lincecum thus describes the ravages of C. spretus 

 in Texas : " Last spring the young were hatched from the 

 egg in the early days of March ; by the middle of the month 

 they had destroyed half the vegetation, although the insects 

 were wingless and not larger than a house-fly. The first 

 winged specimens were seen high in the air at about three 

 in the afternoon ; as a light northerly breeze sprang up, 

 millions dropped to the earth, covering the ground in an 

 hour, and destroying every green thing with avidil}-. Dur- 

 ing the night they were quiet, but at daybreak commenced 

 to eat, and continued until ten in the morning, Avhen they 

 all flew southward. At about three o'clock in the afternoon 

 of the same day another swarm arrived, ten times as 

 numerous as the first ; these again took flight the following 

 day ; and thus they continued, coming and going, day after 

 day, devouring the Ibliage and depositing their eggs. At first 

 they selected bare spots for this purpose, but finally the 

 whole surface of the earth was so broken up by their borings 

 that every inch of ground contained several patches of eggs. 

 This visitation was spread over many hundreds of miles." 



Of other insects eaten by man we may instance the hum- 

 ble bee whose body is often sacrificed to the love of boys 

 for sweets, who since Shakspeare's time have searched for 

 the " well bestratted bee's sweet bag ;" while in Cejdon 

 bees are eaten bodily as food. Some kinds of ants are eaten 

 l)y the Indians of the Gulf coast of IMexico. Sumichrast 

 says (see our "Guide to the Study of Insects," p. 187) that 

 " the natives eat the females after having detached the tho- 

 rax ;" and Humboldt tells us that ants are eaten by the 

 Indians of South America. Kirby speaks from his own 



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