BRITISH COLUMBIA ENTOMOLOGICAL 

 SOCIETY. 



PROCEEDINGS, 1921. 



THE LOCUSTS OF BRITISH COLUMBIA. 



By E. R. Blickell. 



)CUSTS or grasshoppers from an early date have been known 

 to cause great losses to cultivated crops and to the native grasses 

 in North America. The Rocky Mountain locust (Melanoplus 

 spretus), which periodically appeared in dense clouds, flying 

 from the breeding-grounds on the dry mountain-slopes to the 

 lower lands in the valleys, was particularly feared by the early 

 settlers. Arriving suddenly in a dense swarm, they would descend upon 

 the cultivated portions of the valleys, and moving forward would leave the 

 ground behind them completely cleared of vegetation, causing great losses. 

 In Canada the Rocky Mountain locust is said to have been responsible for 

 the great damage done during the severe locust outbreaks of 1868, 1870, 

 1S72, and 1874. Since then, however, it has not occurred alone in sufficient 

 numbers to do very serious damage. Its place, however, has been taken by 

 several species, most of which are not migratory in their habits, but 

 periodically become very numerous and destroy the crops in the neighbour- 

 hood of their breeding-grounds. As these species are often distributed 

 over a large area, a sudden increase in their numbers will cause the destruc- 

 tion of crops and range grasses over that area, often resulting in an outbreak 

 covering large tracts of land. 



With the exception of Camnula pellucida, which belongs to the sub- 

 family CEdipodinae, the other species chiefly responsible for outlireaks in 

 Canada belong to the subfamily Acridinas and to the genus Melanoplus; 

 these are : M. atlanis, M. affinis, M. iemur-rubrum, M. bivittatus, M. 

 packardii, and M. spretus. Sj^ecies of other genera, and in some cases 

 other families, have been recorded as present during outbreaks, but not in 

 sufficient numbers to be of much importance. 



The following brief outline of locust outbreaks in Canada is compiled 

 from the reports of the Dominion Entomologist: In the years 1868, 1870, 

 1872, and 1874 serious locust depredations occurred in the Prairie Provinces, 

 the Rocky Mountain locust (M. spretus) being chiefly responsible for the 

 damage done. In 1893 the common red-legged locust (M. femur-rubrum) 

 became very abundant in the Provinces of Ontario and Quebec. In 1894 

 a heavy outbreak of the lesser migratory locust (M. atlanis) caused great 

 damage on Sable Island. In Ontario and Quebec the locusts continued to 

 increase and in 1895 and again in 1896 caused great damage in these 



