22 MISCELLANEOUS COTTON INSECTS. 



kerosene eiimlsioii was used Avith marked success. The planters pre- 

 ferred usino- the pure oil, its effect beino- more quickly apparent. 

 Paris green was used both as a dust and as a spray. The dust seemed 

 to be nuich the better form of application and more effective, although 

 more material is required. Several tj^pes of portable powder guns 

 were used by various planters under our direction, and were found to 

 apply the poison much moi'e etiectivel}" and economically than is done 

 \)y the use of a sack. Where these methods were thoroughly" practiced, 

 the young hoppers were much reduced in numbers by the third week 

 in April and their injury checked. An unfortunate feature of these 

 methods of treatment lay in the fact that, after a field had been almost 

 entirely rid of the pest, migration would take place from adjoining- 

 uncultivated land, possibly owned by a nonresident, or on a part of a 

 neighboring plantation where no harm could l)e done the crops of the 

 owner and where, therefore, nothing had l)een donc^ toward checking 

 it. This necessitated continued Avork l)y certain individuals, umch 

 later than would have been necessar}- had the whoh^ comnmnity pur- 

 sued the same methods; and in several instances caused vexatious 

 losses after it was thought that a held had been entirely freed from 

 the hoppers. 



JVcUid'oI enoitlf^. — Just after the young had hatched large numbers 

 of a small conopid fl}", Styloga^terhianuxUita Say, were observed dart- 

 ing about and hovering over the young hoppers. It was impossible 

 to observe their oviposition or to rear them from the hoppers subse- 

 quently, but, ow ing to the previousl}' observed habits of this species, 

 there is little doubt that it was parasitic upon the young. 



During the last week of April large flocks of blackbirds and reed- 

 birds or l)obolinks appeared in the helds for a few days, and undoubt- 

 edly did more than an}" other natural agency to check the pest. The}^ 

 consumed innnense numbers of the hoppers, .so that, with the methods 

 previously employed, but little damage was done later in the season. 



Trapping in holeH. — June 1, 1903, a small outbreak occurred a few 

 miles from College station. At that time the locusts were slightly 

 less than half grown. The eggs had been deposited in a small strip -of 

 grass and weeds along a ditch running through the center of the field, 

 and from there the young hoppers had migrated for some little dis- 

 tance on all sides and had destroyed considera})le cotton, then about 

 six inches high. In this case it was essential to prevent further injury 

 as soon as possible, and although poisoning would undoubtedly have 

 killed them in a few days much damage would have been done before 

 they succumbed. A number of post holes were therefore dug in a 

 double row, the holes alternating, near the center of the affected area, 

 and several men and boys drove the hoppers toward them. Very 

 large numbers were thus caught in the holes and were then easily 



