Report of the State Entomologist 187 



western portion of the State, since which time, up to the last of 

 August, their number and their destructiveness have been on the 

 increase. After the heavy rainfall of the 2Sth-29th August, 

 amounting to over six inches in some localities, a marked dimi- 

 nution in number was observed. They appear to have been par 

 ticularly injurious in the more western counties. Mr. J. A. McCul- 

 lom, of Niagara county, writing toward the latter part of August, 

 states that most of their crops have been destroyed entirely by 

 the ravenous insects or so damaged as to be worthless. From 

 Erit^ count}'' it is reported : " Grashoppers have settled down 

 upon this section of Western New York and eaten every green 

 thing in sight. The loss will be very large. Acres on acres 

 which a short time ago were fresh and green with ripening crops' 

 are now barren wastes of leafless stalks and branches. At first 

 but little attention was paid to the flying and hopping pests, but 

 as they increased in number hourly, the farmers became alarmed 

 and steps were taken to drive them away. A strong mixture of 

 salt and water was used, but had little effect." {Associated Press.) 

 In Chautauqua county fields of oats were stripped of their grain 

 early in August, and "garden truck" wholly destroyed, while in 

 Cattaraugus and Allegany counties they were very numerous at 

 the same time. In Wyoming county, after consuming the corn, 

 they began to eat the leaves of the fruit-trees. In Genesee 

 county, they were reported as ''eating every green thing." In 

 Orleans county " they had never been seen in such numbers 

 before." Along the southern range of counties they were quite 

 destructive in Steuben (much oats were cut prematurely for fod- 

 der in order to save it), Chemung, and Tioga. In Central New 

 York they inflicted much damage in Madison county, and north- 

 wardly toward the lake shore in Oswego county, where the cab- 

 bage crop suffered severely. In the northern part of the State, 

 as in Franklin county, they were less destructive, but pastures 

 and meadows were reported as suffering from them. 



As usual in the State of Ncav York, a large proportion of the 

 injuries committed this season, as above reported, is chargeable 

 upon our t vo most common species of grasshoppers, viz., the red- 

 legged locust (commonly called grasshopper), Melanophis femur- 

 rubrum (De Geer), and the lesser migratory locust (as designated 

 by Riley), Melanoplxis atlanis (Riley). In their destructive work, 



