APPLE TWIGS, LOCUST THE LARVA AND FLY 



47 



whether this insect takes any nourishment after it arrives at its 

 perfect state, Mr. Weter informs me that an orchard of young 

 trees upon his farm had the smooth bark of the trunk and limbs 

 punctured profusely, and that the sap exuded copiously from 

 these punctures; and Mr. Robertson makes the same observation. 



It however is only those twigs and limbs which are badly 

 wounded by the female in depositing her eggs, which perish and 

 fall to the ground. But in this way extensive injury is often 

 done. Mr. Thomas W. Morris speaks of having seen the tops of 

 the forest trees in Pennsylvania and Ohio, for upwards of a hun- 

 dred miles, appearing as if scorched by fire, a month after this 

 locust had left them. (Horticulturist, vol. ii, p. 17.) Many of 

 the wounded limbs, however, survive the injury which they 

 receive. 



The Eggs of the locust are 0.08 long and 0.06 in diameter. They are of an 

 oval form, rounded at each end, and of a white c:dor. Statements are very 

 conflicting as to the length of time that elapses after the eggs are deposited be- 

 fore they hatch, some saying it is but a fortnight, others that it is six or seven 

 weeks. 



The young Larva, when 'it hatches from the egg is but 0.06 in length, and of 

 a yellowish-white color, clothed with fine hairs, its eyes and the claws of its 

 fore legs being tinged with red. It has six legs, of which the anterior pair is 

 much the largest, resembling the claws of the lobster, and armed on the under 

 side with strong spines. It is quite active and lively in its motions, and drops 

 itself from the limb to the ground, in which it immediately buries itself by 

 means of its fore legs, which are admirably adapted for digging. 



The perfect insect varies from an inch and a half to nearly an inch and 

 three-quarters in length, to the tips of its closed wings, and when these are 

 spread, they measure from two inches and a half to three and a quarter across. 

 It is of a coal black color, marked with bright orange yellow as follows— upon 

 the transverse and oblique raised lines at the base of the thorax, a large spot on 

 each side of the thorax forward of the wings, the whole under side of the ab- 

 domen in the males, but only the posterior margins of the segments in the fe- 

 males, the veins of the wings, the beak and the legs. Varieties occur having 

 the feet black, the shanks marked with black towards their bases, this color 

 either occupying the whole outer side, or merely formidg a stripe on their an- 

 terior side. The anterior thighs are also black along their inner edge, inclu- 

 ding the spines which arise from this edge. The four hind thighs often have a 

 black stripe along their posterior sides. The angular edges of the anterior hips 

 are also black. There is commonly a small dull white spot in the groove on 

 the middle of the head, behind the small simple eyes. The veins of the wings 

 are margined each side by a slender black line; they become dusky at their 

 tips, and the oblique vein, parallel with the apical margin, is black, and is 



