MIGRATORY LOCUST. 



217 



Fig. 256. 



Young Bombay Locust after third moult. 

 {Magnified jive times.) 



state tho destruction is enormous since the insects strip whatever 

 vegetation they encounter. The winged insects may be as destructive, 

 but as a rule their ravages, being spread over longer distances, are not felt so 

 acutely. 



A great deal has been written about the North- West Locust and 

 advantage is taken of its peculiar habits to destroy it wholesale. The 

 reader should consult the long article in the Journal of the Bombay 

 Natural History So- 

 ciety for 1891 (page 

 242). 



The essential fea- 

 tures of this locvist 

 are that it has per- 

 manent breeding 

 places in North- 

 Western India from 

 which it migrates ; 

 that it apparently 

 breeds twice a year 

 and lays its eggs in 

 special sandy places, and that the young form swarms which hop from 

 place to place. It is possible to destroy the eggs in the permanent 

 breeding places or at least to destroy them when they lay eggs in 

 accessible places ; it is also possible to destroy the armies of hoppers by 

 simple mechanical methods ; these two measures are extensively carried 

 out against this locust in Cyprus and Algiers and form the basis of 

 methods of checking the pest. 



The Bombay Locust breeds most extensively near the Western 

 Ghats, a line of forest hills bordering the sea from the Thana District 

 to Coorg, the chief breeding ground being in the neighbourhood of Goa, 

 not in the forest but outside in the open grass lands. It also breeds 

 all over the plains of Southern India in suitable places, and is found 

 in Assam, Burma, and throughout the whole of Peninsular India. 

 Where it becomes abundant, it assumes the characteristics of a locust ; 

 elsewhere it is an ordinary grasshopper, forming part of the regular 

 plains' fauna. 



From the Western Ghats it spreads in swarms over Bombay, 

 Mysore, parts of Madras, over Hyderabad, the Central Provinces and 

 parts of Central India. 



This is exceptional and occurs only rarely. This locust breeds only 

 in damp places, laying its eggs in wet soil; it lays a mass containing 



