116 JOURNAL OF ECONOMIC ENTOMOLOGY [Vol. 5 



claims that at the time the young hatch the enveloping capsule has 

 become soft and jelly-like, and that the young grasshopper may easily 

 push up through that toward the surface in cases where the capsules 

 are inverted by the plow. He further does not believe that the alter- 

 nate freezing and thawing of the eggs causes the death of the same, 

 since, being close to the surface, they must be subjected to that in 

 Minnesota every season. He has further exposed to alternate freezing 

 and thawing this winter newly hatched grasshoppers, twenty, accord- 

 ing to his report, having been frozen and thawed twice with no mortal- 

 ity, except in the case of one individual, which probably perished 

 through rough handling. In spite of his belief, as here cited, I still 

 hold that turning the eggs under deeply must materially lessen the 

 number of grasshoppers which would naturally emerge the following 

 season, and, plowing being in accord with farm practice, I shall con- 

 tinue to recommend it until we know of something better. 



Under the head of Natural Enemies I have not listed all of the 

 known predaceous insects or vertebrates known to attack and destroy 

 grasshoppers, — they are all very well known, I am simply citing certain 

 findings of our own during the summer just passed. 



I have always held that Trombidium, the so-called red mite, does no 

 serious injury to the grasshopper when fastened to its wings and other 

 parts of its body, or, at any rate, we have observed grasshoppers 

 loaded with mites, ovipositing so frequently that we are convinced 

 there is no material lessening of their numbers through the attacks of 

 the mites upon the adults. But the adult mite in the spring, has been 

 seen to actually feed on the eggs of the grasshopper, and wherever 

 grasshopper eggs are found in abundance my men found there also 

 the red mite very abundant. Small larvse were found in the vicinity 

 of egg masses by Mr. Somes, which were not reared, but which were 

 believed to be Meloids, and possibly belonging to the genus Epicauta. 

 Two flies were reared from Melanopli in our laboratory at Fergus 

 Falls, Muscinus stahulans, which was distinctively parasitic with us, 

 and the Sarcophagid, Helicobia helicis. This latter fly may have been 

 a scavenger in connection with our work. Mr. Somes also reports 

 the presence within grasshoppers of what appears to be a Syrphid 

 larva. This died before being reared to maturity. Hairs worms 

 were found in abundance in the bodies of M. bivitattus and M. differ- 

 entialis. Many predaceous beetles of the genera Harpahis, Pteros- 

 tichus, Calosoma, Amara and Pasimachus were observed feeding upon 

 the adult and eggs. Several different genera of Asilid flies were ob- 

 served attacking various species of grasshoppers in the field. 



Among vertebrates that prey upon grasshoppers in Minnesota we 

 have a wonderful ally in the black tern, which, in flying over the grain 



