92 THE ACRIDIIDAE OF MINNESOTA 
bodied insect, nearly uniformly testaceous or, as with us, more com- 
monly a distinct yellowish, sometimes varying to greenish. No well- 
defined postocular band on the head and but faintly marked on the 
lateral lobes of the prozona by a series of black or brown spots 
and by the darkening of the sulci in that field. Tegmina are well 
developed, reaching the tip of the hind femora or in the male surpass- 
ing this. Hind femora stout, heavily marked with “fish-bone” pattern 
in black. Cerci of male very stout, laminate, boot-shaped with the toe 
usually darker in color. This large and clumsy insect is known 
throughout a large part of its range as the “lubberly locust,’ a name 
which is in places shared by the still more lubberly Brachystola magna, 
In distribution, we have taken this insect, as yet, only in the southern 
part of the State, its northern limit being apparently the valley of 
the Minnesota River. Wherever found it is usually one of the most 
abundant species and of considerable economic importance. It appears 
to prefer low grounds and especially such rank growth as ragweed 
(Ambrosia), bur marigold (Bidens), and the like, having, however, 
no serious prejudice against cultivated crops of all kinds. This 
species, together with M. bivittatus, a closely related species, seem to 
be the only locusts found far in from the margins of thoroughly worked 
lands such as corn fields. The eggs are deposited in loose soil or even 
sand, often in cultivated fields. In September we have noted great 
numbers, literally thousands, of the females drilling and ovipositing 
in an abandoned melon patch where the soil was a soft and very 
sandy loam. They were not under the vines, for the most part, but 
every spot of bare soil was occupied by one or more of the females. 
This species is said to deposit the eggs under the bark of logs 
sometimes, but this certainly must be an abnormal place for oviposi- 
tion, since repeated tests in the breeding-cages failed to get such 
results. A series of females apparently ready for oviposition was 
collected. Part of these were placed in cages with sandy soil and 
these deposited abundant egg pods, while the remainder which were 
placed in cages under exactly similar conditions save that the bottoms 
were of wood, did not make use of, or attempt to use, logs with vari- 
ously loosened bark, which we had included, and all died within a few 
days without oviposition. Scudder has stated that the northern 
limitation of this species is latitude 43° north, but we have found it in 
great mumbers at 45°. 
Melanoplus bivittatus Say 
Melanoplus bivitattus is nearly as large as the preceding and is 
perhaps the most serious grasshopper pest, economically considered, 
that now occurs within our borders. When a series of favorable 
years permits of rapid increase, it becomes very abundant and causes 
