of their formidable character. " Of all the in- 

 sects which seem capable of adding to the calami- 

 ties of the human race, locusts seem to possess 

 the most formidable powers of destruction. Le- 

 gions of these voracious animals of various species 

 are produced in Africa, where the devastation 

 they commit, is almost incredible. The air is 

 darkened by their numbers; they carry desolation 

 with them wherever they pass, and in the short 

 space of a few hours, are said to change the most 

 fertile provinces into a barren desert." During 

 their migrations in search of food, they move in 

 immense dense masses, which resemble huge 

 thunder or hail clouds, and at the termination of 

 their career, every leaf is soon devoured, and the 

 atmosphere is finally loaded with putrid exhala- 

 tions from their dead bodies, producing pestilence 

 in the train of a general famine, which is the 

 consequence of their voracity. 



Swarms of these animals have appeared in 

 various parts of Europe, from Tartary, and small 

 flights have made their way even into England. 

 A species of this genus occasioned so much de- 

 struction in some parts of Europe, that in the year 

 1813, the French government issued decrees with 

 a view to occasion the destruction of the larvae. 

 Although the thickly settled parts of the United 



PLATE XXXIV. 



