GRASSHOPPER CONTROL. 9 
alfalfa, and in California as many as 2,000 eggs have been found in 
the crown of a single alfalfa plant. 
The banks of irrigation canals are favorite egg-laying grounds 
for grasshoppers (fig. 13). In New Mexico and Arizona the eggs 
frequently are laid in the bottoms of shallow arroyos where they 
are inaccessible to cultivating implements. The waste lands of 
Idaho, Washington, and some other Northwestern States afford other 
instances where the destruction of grasshopper eggs is not practicable 
on a commercial scale. 
The egg laying usually takes place in late summer or early fall 
and the young grasshoppers emerge the following spring. In some 
of the Southern and Southwestern States the young grasshoppers 
may emerge as early as February. In the North the eggs usually do 
not hatch until some time during the months of May or June. 
In contrast with many other injurious insects, grasshoppers when 
hatched closely resemble their parents, excepting their lack of wings 
Fic. 13.—An irrigation canal right of way where crowns of alfalfa plants contain 
thousands of grasshopper eggs to the square foot. (Webster.) 
(fig. 14). There is no grublike larval stage nor is there any resting 
or true pupal stage such as is the case with butterflies and moths. 
The young grasshoppers are active and able to hop almost immedi- 
ately upon emergence from the eggs. It takes from 70 to 90 days 
for the young grasshoppers to grow to maturity and develop wings. 
The farmer should therefore endeavor to attack the pest during its 
young stages, as this method not only requires less labor and material, 
but the insects can not then escape destruction by flying to untreated 
fields as they may, and often do, upon becoming mature. When the 
grasshopper reaches a certain stage of development its skin splits 
and is shed, the insect usually acquiring wings during the operation. 
Tt has then reached its final stage of growth and is ready to mate and 
reproduce its kind. So far as known the injurious species of grass- 
hoppers have only one generation a year. 
54785°—Bull, 747—16—_2 
