304 MANUAL OF VEGETABLE-GARDEN INSECTS 



larva is about i inch in length and yellowish brown in color; 

 the head is large and provided with a pair of strong pws. The 

 legs are long and slender and the body is elongate and tapers 

 toward the tip, which is provided wdth two long set?e. On 

 hatching, the young larv?e run actively about and biu-row into 

 the soil, seeking for grasshopper eggs. They possess great 

 vitality and can survive without food for at least three weeks. 

 As soon as an egg-pod is found, the larva gnaws its way into 

 the capsule and begins feeding on the eggs; about eight days 

 after beginning to feed, the larva molts. The second stage 

 larva is white, has a smaller head, shorter legs, and the two 

 long setse at the tip of the body have been lost. When in its 

 natural position, the larva has its abdomen curled beneath. 

 The larva continues to feed on the grasshopper eggs and in 

 about a week molts a second time. The third stage larvse 

 have the mouth-parts and legs much more reduced, the body 

 becomes stouter and thicker and is strongly curved, with the 

 head proportionately smaller. The larva grows rapidly and 

 takes on a yellowish color, becoming full-grown within the 

 egg-pod of the grasshopper. In about ten days after entering 

 the egg-pod the larva molts for the third time and about nine 

 days later becomes full-grown. In the fourth stage the body 

 is more distinctly yellowish. When fully fed, the larva leaves 

 the egg-pod and works its way some distance into the surround- 

 ing soil. It there constructs a smooth cavity in which it molts 

 again but does not completely shed its skin, the latter being 

 attached to the posterior part of the body. In this stage the 

 insect remains in a dormant condition. The legs and mouth- 

 parts are much reduced and are not functional. The skin 

 becomes leathery and acquires a deep yellow color. It is about 

 I inch in length. In this condition the insect usually hiber- 

 nates, and in some cases may remain in this state during a 

 second and even sometimes a third winter. In the spring the 

 insect molts again. This time the larva resumes the form in 



