203 

 APPENDIX III. 



REMEDIES AND DEVICES FOR THE DESTRUCTION OF 

 LOCUSTS, FROM U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRI- 

 CULTURE, DIVISION OF ENTOMOLOGY, BY THE 

 LATE PROFESSOR RILEY. 



The Riley Locust-catcher. 

 {See Fig. 15.) 



Invented by the late Professor Riley, M.A. Ph.D., of the United 

 States Entomological Commission. It is intended to do away with all 

 extra material, like coal oil, which in the long run is expensive, and 

 to work at all seasons, whether the insects are just hatching or full 

 grown. It was worked at Manhattan, Kansas, and gave great satis- 

 faction. The machine operates upon the bagging principle. It is, 

 briefly, a large canvas bag stretched upon a light but strong frame, 

 and placed upon runners, which extend with curved tips a little 

 in front of the mouth. The canvas is stretched upon the inside of the 

 frame, thus making the bag smooth and even within. This bag has 

 a mouth (A) 10 feet long and 2 feet high, and converges backward to 

 a small box or frame, 1 foot square, with a slide cut off (D). This 

 box forms the mouth to a secondary bag (B), 2i feet long and 1 foot 

 in diameter, which ends in a second frame, having two short runners 

 below it. There is a sliding door (E) of wire gauze in the end frame, 

 and the secondary bag is strengthened by a couple of strips of leather 

 connecting the two small frames. The machine is made to " take more 

 land" by means of two right-angled triangular wings (C) about 6 feet 

 long, that hinge to the upright ends of the large frame in such manner 

 that the rectangle joins the upper corner of the frame. From the 

 lower side of this wing are suspended a number of teeth or beater, 

 which, swinging loosely, drive the locusts inward. The machine is 

 handled by means of two ropes hitched to the outer runners or to the 

 outer and lower side of the mouth of the frame. " On smooth ground 

 the machine can be easily hauled by two men, but where the grass is 

 tall and thick it pulls harder. The locusts, on hopping into the machine, 

 soon reach the small back portion, enter the small bag, and are 

 attracted to the rear end by the light which enters the gauze door. 

 When a sufficient number are thus captured the machine is stopped, 

 the cut-off is slid down in front of the secondary bag, a hole is dug 

 behind the machine, the bag tipped into it, and the insects buried. A 

 strip of leather closes the slit through which the cut-off slips, and the 

 main bag is made of dark cloth, while the secondary bag is white, so 

 by contrast to attract more thoroughly the locusts. 



