PSYCHE. 



THE DISTRIBUTION OF THE NEW ENGLAND LOCUSTS. 



BY ALBERT P. MORSE, WEI.LESLEY, MASS. 

 1 address of the retiring president of the Cambridge Entoniolopcal Club, January 13, 1899.] 



The Acridiidae, short-horned grass- 

 hoppers or true locusts, are a family of 

 insects of especial value for the study ot 

 geographical distribution, "life zones," 

 and kindred topics, — probably more 

 valuable than any other group of insects, 

 and perhaps as important as the birds ; 

 they are, in consequence, deserving of 

 more attention from biological surveys 

 than they have yet received. 



The reasons for ascribing to them 

 so great value in connection with this 

 subject are as follo\vs : — They are 

 terrestrial (as distinguished from aqua- 

 tic) in all stages of their existence. They 

 are almost universally distributed — 

 with the exception of dense forests — 

 from desert to jungle, from sea- side to 

 mountain-top, from the arctic zone to 

 the equator. They are conspicuous in 

 size and habits — being from one- half 

 inch to four inches in length, one inch 

 to nine inches in expanse, diurnal, 

 active and alert, flying or leaping freely 

 when approached, often adorned with 

 striking colors or producing loud sounds 

 either in flight or at rest. They are 

 voracious, their food being general in 



character rather than special, a question 

 of quantity rather than quality. They 

 are numerous in individuals, whether 

 local or widespread occurring in suffi- 

 cient numbers to make it possible with 

 reasonable eflbrt to procure series suffi- 

 ciently large to permit of critical study. 

 They require a relatively small amount 

 of care and delicacy of handling, mak- 

 ing it possible to devote a proportion- 

 ally large amount of time during field- 

 work to the securing of material rather 

 than to its preparation. Finally, while 

 the majority are winged and active in 

 habit they are, with few exceptions, 

 relatively stationary during life, for not 

 only is the range of individuals com- 

 paratively restricted but the same is true 

 also of the range of a species in a given 

 locality, which seems to be dependent 

 less upon the presence or absence of 

 particular food-plants than upon physi- 

 cal conditions often of extremely local 

 character, such as the quality of the 

 soil, exposure, drainage, humidity, etc. 

 So true is this last statement that in a 

 region where the locust fauna is fairly 

 well-known, e.^.. New England, given 



