46 INJURIOUS AND BENEFICIAL INSECTS OP CALIFORNIA. 



bright red. The former have black spots near the outer base. The 

 spines and daws arc black. The antennas are reddish with dusky 

 lips. The nymphs are green. 



Life History.— Egg-lay ing begins about the middle of the summer. 

 The holes for Ihe eggs are drilled in the soil in bare and vacant 

 places, especially in alfalfa fields. From sixty to eighty eggs are 

 laid by each female. They are protected from winter rains and 

 freezes by an excretion of the female which makes the capsule con- 

 taining them waterproof. They begin to hatch in the warmer spring 

 months, appearing early in June and keep up their destructive work 

 until August. The young green nymphs, as they mature, acquire 

 wings and assume a yellowish tint, thus giving rise to the belief 

 that they are a distinct species. The largest brood appears early in 

 the summer, and the greatest amount of damage is done by the first 

 of August. 



Distribution.— This species has a wide range throughout the State. 

 It has often been quite a serious pest, especially in the San Joaquin 

 Valley. 



Food Plants. — The differential grasshopper prefers rank, green 

 vegetation and is especially destructive to alfalfa. Practically all 

 kinds of vegetable and truck crops are devoured, as beets, corn, 

 potatoes, etc. Orchard trees and grapevines are also attacked, the 

 trees and vines heing often completely defoliated and many killed. 



THE RED-LEGGED GRASSHOPPER 



Melanophis femur-rubrum (De Geer) 

 (Acridium femur-rubrum De Geer) 



Description. — The adults vary from olive-green to dull brown and 

 have a row of dark specks along the middle of the wing covers, a 

 continuous black bar on each side of the prothorax and a yellow 

 line on each side of the body beneath the wings. The wing-covers 

 are but slightly longer than the body and the hind tibiae and tarsi 

 are almost always red with black spines. The tip of the last abdom- 

 inal segment of the male has a smooth rounded edge. The length 

 is about 1 inch and the width at the base of the wings | inch. The 

 young are light amber brown or yellowish. 



Life History.— The eggs are laid in late September or October and 

 hatch the following spring. The adults mature in about two and 

 one-half months and have wings by the first of August. There is 

 but one brood a year. It is not a true migratory form, but some- 

 times gathers in swarms, which move with the winds much as do 

 migratory species. 



Distribution. — This grasshopper occurs throughout the State. 



Food Plants. — This insect prefers rank or succulent vegetation in 

 low places. It attacks alfalfa, clover, corn, grass, oat, barley, wheat 

 and other cultivated garden crops. 



THE PALE-WINGED GRASSHOPPER 



Melanophis uniformis Scudder 



Description.— This species is characterized by the light uniformly 

 colored bodies, which vary from dark straw to amber. The wing 



