4 



glomerata at Stevns in September. This moth has only been reported 

 as doing damage once previously, viz. in the Netherlands on Triticum 

 repens. The larva lives in the ground, like other cut-worms, 

 and remains hidden during the day, when it gnaws the roots ; it 

 appears on the surface during the night and injures the stems of the 

 grass immediately above the surface of the soil. 



There seems to be no effective remedy against this pest ; as it feeds 

 on several grasses, as well as on cereals, rotation of crops is consequently 

 quite useless. It is not, however, advisable to utilise the injured areas 

 for the cultivation of grass seed until after an interval of some years. 

 The larvae pupate in July, and the moths appear in August and 

 September. The eggs are probably laid in the soil, and the young 

 larvae hibernate. 



Smith (H. E.). The Grasshopper Outbreak in New Mexico during the 

 Summer of 1913. — U.S. Dept. Agric, Bur. Entom., Washington, 

 B.C., Bulletin no. 293, 7th October 1915, 12 pp. 



An unusual invasion of Dissosteira longipennis occurred in the 

 Pecos Valley of New Mexico in the summer of 1913. The insect has 

 been known in the U.S.A. since 1872, especially in Colorado and 

 Kansas, where of late years the outbreaks have occasionally been very 

 serious ; it is now known in most of the Western States. In New 

 Mexico hatching en masse began in the first week of May, a few 

 adults were seen on 4th June and by 24th June the majority had 

 become adult ; there is apparently only one generation in the year, 

 oviposition taking place late in August or early in September. Kellogg 

 stated in 1892 that, in Kansas, this grasshopper is non-migratory, 

 but in 1913 from 4th May to 24th June droves of nymphs travelled 

 15 to 18 miles in a north-easterly direction destroying all the prairie 

 grass in their path. The species is gregarious and readily attracted by 

 lights. The particular outbreak dealt with originated in a huge swarm 

 of adults from the north, which settled near Elida, New Mexico, at 

 the end of August and beginning of September. The swarm moved off 

 to a chain of sandhills 8 to 10 miles long, running north-east and 

 south-west of Elida ; the young hoppers were observed on 4th May, 

 and during a heavy shower, some of the areas of the breeding ground 

 were covered 6 inches deep with them ; a few egg-masses were laid 

 on hard land. This species has a preference for massing together and 

 travelling over barren areas such as roadways, footpaths, railways, 

 etc. Droves 1 or 2 miles long and moving at from 8 to 20 feet per 

 minute, according to the age of the insects were common. Adults 

 fly with the wind if it be strong, but generally face it in order to rise 

 from the ground to the desired altitude, usually 30-40 feet ; they 

 have been seen to alight on water and to take wing again easily from 

 it. The feeding hours are generally from dawn till 8 or 9 a.m. and 

 again from 3 to 4 p.m. ; there is little or no feeding at night. The 

 food-plants most favoured are grama grass, buffalo grass, mesquite 

 grass, maize, kafir corn and millet. Millet is greatly favoured, sorghum 

 being less attractive ; all market-garden plants are devoured and 

 even Russian thistle {Salsola tragus) and soapweed {Chlorogalum 

 po7neridianum) may be eaten ; lucerne seems to be unsuitable, nymphs 

 confined on it in a cage having died, apparently from starvation. 



