THE I?EPOKT OF THE No. 36 



insects from a distance drift past than those in the vicinity li\- up to j lin them 

 and so add to the moving swarm. To witness snch a sight for the first time cannot 

 but prove a joy to the naturalist, hut it has a very diff'ereut effect upon the farmer, 

 who perhaps sees the hard work of inontiis hrought to nothiiiL;' in a few hour-. 

 We had instances, at sucli times, when hundred acre fiehls of wheat wIutc destroyed 

 in two days by successive swarms of migrating locusts. Other iields, however, 

 were actually freed through the insects moving elsewhere. It was owing to these 

 habits that some farmers who had done little still harvested some crop wliile other 

 men, working hard to prevent the locusts depredations, lost everything. 



The almost daily flights mentioned above, naturally scattered the insects far 

 n field and over much new territory, but while" they thus moved in vast numbers 

 their movements were much closer to the ground than are those of the Lesser 

 Migratory locust which often rises far above the area of ordinary vision. Mdan- 

 oplus also takes part in the low flights though less frequently. All sjiecies com- 

 mence to migrate soon after they ol)tain wings, and continue, on and off, for fully 

 a month and a half. In 1911) they commenced to fly about the middle of July 

 and continued for a consideral)le time after the insects had begun to oviposit. 

 Indeed there is strong evidence to show that the female frequently deposited one 

 lot of eggs and then moved to other territory to complete her work. 



During tiie wingless stages, and for a time afterwards, the Pellucid locust 

 s|)reads all through the fields and in this habit resembles the common species ot: 

 Mclanoplus, but as the breeding season draws near it returns to the sod Innd, 

 while the latter remain on the stubble to deposit their i'^f^^^. This habit alone 

 usually enables us to distinguish the species involved without seeing it. For 

 instance, should a farmer report extensive cutting of twine we are reasonably safe 

 in referring the injury to species of MeJanoplus because ('{inniula will be on the 

 sod at the time the grain is cut. The only other insect, therefore, that could be 

 involved would be the larger crickets {GrijUus assimilis). Another difference is 

 in the kind of soil preferred, the Lesser Migratory locust inhabits sandy hind. 

 Camnida the richer soil; though 1)oth prefer the dry uplands for egg-laying. 



The conditions favoring the increase of any particular s|)ecies are almost sure 

 to be beneficial to the development of others, consequently .there are a'ways others 

 present of lesser importance, and in l!)f9 we had Melanophis mi nor, whicli is the 

 earliest to develop; M. pacl-ardii, glad.sfoni, dawsoni, hivltlntus. and feinur-rtihnini. 

 The first three are upland species while the last two prefer slightly moister situa- 

 tions, I found a remarkable little outbreak of M. gladstoni near Pilot Mound 

 which is, I believe, the first occasion that this species has been recorded as notaldy 

 injurious. 



As I have already mentioned, the eggs of Camnula are de])osited along road- 

 sides or in pasture fields. Contrary to the general idea the insects, with us, ^)refer 

 the higher land rather than low spots. Any sodded soil is suitahh' jirovidcd it is 

 comparatively dry. In preparing to oviposit the female select- a low clump of 

 grass in which she forces, her abdomen to that the Q^g mas-, tliat ,-he deposits, 

 is situated among the grasses roots. The eggs, however, are always close to the 

 surface and when the grass clump is a dense one. may actually protrude above 

 ground though, of course, hidden amid the base of the plant. Owing to the 

 peculiarity in selecting e^^ sites the c^^ pods, too, are frequently massed together 

 and often"*actually touching one another in their density. In this connection I 

 have found as many as 84 ^(;[_^ sacks within a square foot, that is to say approxi- 

 mately 2,000 eggs. 



