GRASSHOPPERS ON SUGAR BEETS AND TRUCK CROPS. 7 
sules when fresh and feed upon the grasshopper eggs until they attain 
full growth. 
_ A small wasplike parasite,’ from one-eighth to three-sixteenths of 
an inch in length, has been reared from the eggs of the differential 
grasshopper, the two-lined grasshopper, and others. The female 
parasites cling to the bodies of female grasshoppers until the latter 
lay their eggs. As a grasshopper digs the tunnel in which to deposit 
her eggs the parasites crowd into it along her abdomen, and thrust 
their eggs singly, one into each grasshopper egg. The developing 
parasites then feed on the contents of the grasshopper eggs, destroy- 
ing them. 
Small rodents (mice, ground squirrels, and perhaps many others) 
and moles dig over egg-infested land, especially around the bases of 
Fig. 9.—Grasshopper egg capsules and the bee-fly larvee and coarctate larvee of blister beetles that were 
collected along the roadside shown in figure 8; 53 of these parasitic larvee were found in the grasshopper 
egg capsules collected in one hour. About natural size. (Original.) 
weed stalks, to secure the capsules for food. Skunks share in this 
work, as indicated by the larger holes, footprints, and other traces. 
Hogs also eat the eggs and will turn the soil over thoroughly to obtain 
them. 
ENEMIES OF THE YOUNG AND ADULTS. 
A red mite, which is reported to have destroyed many of the 
Rocky Mountain grasshoppers during the seventies, does not kill 
many of our native species. The writer counted 135 of these mites 
on a single adult grasshopper which was still very active. 
1 Scelio monticola Brues. 
