30 



F[G. 31. 



While the true American Locusts are conjmonly called " grasshoppers, and the true 

 t'rasslioppers are termed crickets, kaiydids, &c,, another elenjent of confusion is min;;led 

 with our insect nomenclature hy the common practice of pivinn; the name of locust to the 

 cicada, a totally diffircnt insect bilonuiiii; tn an entirely different order. The accompany- 

 in" illustration will shew the re:ider the diflference between these three kinds of insects better 

 than any written description. Fijrure 30 represents different staf^es in the life of the Cicada or 

 so-called "Seventeen year Locust" (C. jSV/'/ojmA c/m Linn), a is the pupa ; b the empty pupa 

 case after the perfect insect has emerticd from it ; c, the perfect or winged insect; d, the per- 

 forations in a twig for the deposition of eggs ; e, the egg. Figure 32 represents a katydid or 

 true grasshopper (CyrtophtjUum coiirmmm, Say); and Figure 31 a true locust or so-called 

 grasshopper (JJuloptfnus sjirehis, Uhler). 



A single glance at these illus- 

 trations will shew the reader, the 

 main differences between the three 

 kinds of insects that we have been 

 referring to. We wish it, there- 

 fore, to be plainly understood 

 that in the account that follows : 

 we shall use the term " Locust " 

 in refeience to the devastating 

 insect represented in Figure 31, whicii'is so often called a " eraashopper." 



History of the Locust in America. 



From the various works that we have been able to con- 

 sult we gather that visitations of 1 'custs have occurred on a 

 more or 1-ess extensive scale, from time to time, ever since 

 the Central and Western portions of this Noithern Conti- 

 nent have been occupied by Europeans. We have no diffi- 

 culty, then, in believing that from time immemorial these 

 destructive in.sects have played their important part in 

 maintaining the balance of animal and vegetable life in 

 accordance with tlie grand laws of the Omnipotent Creator. 

 The earliest notice that we have found of a visitation of 

 locusts refers back more than two centuries, to a period 

 much anterior to the discovery of the Mississippi River by 

 La Salle. In Gage's West Indies the following account 

 is given of one of these vi.sitations in Guatemala in the year 

 1G'32 :— ' 



" The first year of my abiding there it pleased God to 

 send one of the plagues of Egypt to thut country, which was 

 of locusts, which I had never seen till then. Thev were 

 after the manner of our grasshoppers, but somewhat bigger, 

 which did fly about in numbers .>o thick and infinite that 

 they did truly cover the face of the sun, and hinder the 

 shining forth of the beams of that bright planet. Where 

 they lighted, either upon trees or standing corn, there was 

 nothing expected but ruin, destruction and barrenness ; for 

 the corn they devoured, the fruits of trees they ate and con- 

 sumed, and hung so thick upon the branches that tvith their 

 weight they tore them from the body. The higliways were so covered with them that they 

 startled the travelling mules with their fluttering about their heads and feet. My eyes were 

 often struck with their wings as I rode along ; and much ado I had to see my way, what with 

 a montero wherewith I was fain to cover my face, what with the flight of them which we-e 

 still before my eyes. The farmers towards the South sca-coa.st cried out, fbr that their 

 indi'io, which was then in grass, was like to be eaten up ; from the //((/cw/rw of .sugar the like 

 moan was made, that the young and tender sugar-canes would be destroyed ; but, above all, 

 grievous was the cry of the husbandmen of the valley where I lived, who feared that their 



