GRASSHOPPER CONTROL. 13 
the farmer. In North America unmistakable representations of 
grasshoppers are found on pottery and in the picture writings of the 
prehistoric Indians and Aztecs. It is therefore quite probable that 
grasshoppers attacked the maize and other crops of the Indians long 
before the coming of the white man. The early history of the New 
England States affords numerous records of the inroads by grass- 
hoppers upon the crops of the settlers. During the period 1743 to 
1756 a great scourge of these hungry insects occurred in Maine, and 
other outbreaks occurred in Vermont during the year 1797 to 1798. 
When agriculture began to be established generally in the Great 
Plains region of the 
United States, lying 
west of the Missis- 
sippi River and east 
of the Rocky Moun- 
tains, during the dec 
ade 1870-1880 a mi- 
gratory species of 
grasshopper, com- 
monly known as the 
Rocky Mountain 
locust,’ frequently 
swooped down from 
its breeding grounds 
on the benches of the 
mountain range in 
such great swarms 
as to destroy practi- 
cally all cultivated | , 
crops over vast areas é y 
of country. As the rie. 17.—A digger wasp, Priononyx atratus, which kills or 
settlement of the stupefies grasshoppers by stinging them, and carries them 
P into its nests as food for its young. Nearly three times 
Rocky Mountain re- natural size. Original.) 
gion progressed and. 
the breeding grounds of this destructive insect came under the in- 
fluences of cultivation these outbreaks ceased. Thus, there has not 
been a serious general outbreak of the Rocky Mountain locust since 
1880, and this particular grasshopper has ceased to be a pest of any 
great importance. 
However, there are many other kinds of grasshoppers having dif- 
ferent habits which have since hampered the farmer and undoubt- 
edly will continue to rob him of his crops for years to come unless 
persistent concerted action of agricultural communities in combating 
these pests succeeds in securing permanent relief. 
1 Melanoplus spretus Uhl. 
