GRASSHOPPER GLACIER OF MONTANA — GURNEY 317 



grasshoppers were distributed on the snow, it was obvious that they 

 had come by air. 



The dominant species present was Melanoplus rugglesi. Collected 

 with rugglesi were two specimens (male, female) of M. mexicanus 

 mexicanus (solitary phase) and one male of Trimerotropis pallidi- 

 pennis (Burmeister). The latter is a widespread but not very im- 

 portant grasshopper. All were alive. Though then without a scien- 

 tific name, rugglesi had attracted attention in Nevada since 1939 (see 

 Gallaway, 1949), and during the previous month both Hall and 

 Cowan had observed its flights in Nevada and Oregon. Both men were 

 immediately struck by the similarity of the specimens on the snow 

 to the material studied in the infested area. 



Specimens of rugglesi subsequently sent to me were identified inde- 

 pendently and before the remarkable circumstances of their capture 

 on the snow in Montana, far from the normal habitat, were explained. 

 I was especially interested in the species because during the previous 

 May and June I too had studied this grasshopper in Nevada and 

 Oregon. Briefly, the background concerning it is that before 1939 

 there are no definite records of important infestations, but in that 

 year it appeared as a conspicuous migratory species feeding on sage- 

 brush, rabbitbrush, and other range plants in Big Smoky Valley 

 of central Nevada. Bands of immature individuals, or nymphs, 

 advanced in fairly compact aggregations; then, as wings developed 

 fully, swarms of adults at first took short flights. Later, when the 

 grasshoppers were more thoroughly mature, their flights became 

 longer and were dramatic affairs when witnessed by entomologists 

 or local ranchers. An average of about 40 miles would be covered 

 over a period of a week or more before a swarm would deposit the 

 main egg supply for its progeny. These eggs would hatch the follow- 

 ing year and the bulk of the population would again move forward, 

 usually in a northerly or northwesterly direction. By the late 1940's 

 the migrations had reached southeastern Oregon and northeastern 

 California and in Nevada occurred only in the northwestern corner 

 of the State. So far as then known to entomologists, the species had 

 disappeared from central Nevada. At first there was some uncer- 

 tainty concerning the identity of this grasshopper, but it was seen to 

 be Melanoplus occidentalis (Thomas) or a close relative. 



My 1949 field observations, and later studies of assembled reference 

 collections, convinced me that the grasshopper had not been named, 

 and I proposed a name in memory of one of my former teachers at 

 the University of Minnesota, Prof. A. G. Euggles, himself an en- 

 thusiastic student of grasshoppers and at least twice a companion of 

 Dr. Parker on trips to Grasshopper Glacier. Little did he suppose 

 that amid the rugged beauty of those great peaks of the Beartooth 



