4 FARMERS’ BULLETIN 637. 
LIFE HISTORIES AND HABITS. 
The eggs are deposited in the ground in masses, inclosed in more or 
less kidney-shaped pods, in late summer and fall, after the manner 
shown in figure 4, which illustrates the oviposition of the Rocky 
Mountain grasshopper or locust. The females seem to prefer a mod- 
erately compact, rather damp but not wet soil which is rarely dis- 
turbed by the plow or other cultivating implement. It will thus be 
seen that the alfalfa fields throughout the irrigated sections consti- 
tute an ideal breeding ground. Winter is passed in the egg state, 
the young hatching in spring and reaching maturity in summer, and 
there is but one generation annually. Neither of the two species is 
migratory. Their flight is rather clumsy, and they do not remain 
long on the wing before 
alighting. 
NATURAL ENEMIES. 
Upward of 100 speciesof 
birds are known to feed 
to a greater or less extent 
upon grasshoppers, but 
probably the most useful 
in this direction are quails, 
prairie chickens, the spar- 
row hawk and Swainson 
hawk, the loggerhead 
Fig. 4.—Rocky Mountain grasshopper or locust ( Melanoplus shrike, all cuckoos, the 
spretus): @,a@,a, Female in different positions, ovipositing; cowbird, all blackbirds 
b, egg-pod extracted from ground, with the end broken open; " 
ioose on the ground; d and e show the earth and meadow larks, the cat- 
to illustrate an egg mass already in place bird, and the red-headed 
ed; jf shows where such a mass has been q k Tha t do- 
+ Riley.) woodpecker. 
mestic fowls are especially 
fond of these insects goes without saying. Skunks are very fond of 
grasshoppers, and are esteemed by the Bureau of Biological Survey as 
the most useful of mammals; they therefore deserve protection rather 
than destruction by the farmer. Toads and probably some of the 
snakes add these insects to their bill of fare. 
Of the insect enemies, the grasshopper mite is often found infesting 
grasshoppers in great numbers. It collects under the base of the 
wings, sometimes causing them to stand out from the body. While 
these mites probably destroy many grasshoppers, it is possible that 
their value to the farmer has been overestimated. There are several 
species of parasitic flies that frequently destroy immense numbers of 
these grasshoppers. Of these Sarcophaga kellyi Ald.,S.cimbicis Towns., 
