13 
ground hatch during warm spells of early spring, but those normally 
placed seldom hatch until continuous warm weather prevails. Those 
in the upper portion of the pods or egg sacs hatch first, sometimes 
many days in advance of those in the lower part; the species is thus 
protected from complete annihilation should an unexpected severe 
cold spell intervene between the first and second hatching. 
The average life cycle of the differential locust as determined in the 
breeding cages is as follows: 
Grasshoppers emerging from eggs on April 20, 1900, molted five 
times before reaching the full-grown or adult condition. The first 
molt took place May 7, the second May 22, the third June 2, the 
fourth June 13, and the last June 27. The first mating was observed 
July 19, the second July 28; the females deposited eggs August 3, 
and were dead by August 17. The entire period, minus the time 
required for incubation, was one hundred and nineteen days. The 
young on first emerging from the eggs are sordid white and after an 
airing of an hour or two are darker, assuming a color not unlike the dark 
gray alluvial soil over which they feed. There are changes of color 
as the earlier transformations (stages) are assumed, but until the close 
of the third stage these changes are not readily perceptible in the field 
to the naked eye. At the close of stage four the greenish-yellow color 
becomes prominent on many forms, and in stage five the greenish- 
yellow and yellow ground colors predominate. The vigorous feeding 
and rapid growth of the young in stages four and five, and the promi- 
nence of the wing pads in stage five, cause the grasshoppers in these 
conditions to appear almost as conspicuous as adults. 
The habits of the young are interesting, and a knowledge of some 
of them may be helpful in developing remedies. After hatching they 
remain for several hours in close proximity to the egg-pod from 
which they emerged. With this period of faint-heartedness over 
they may venture out for a few yards each day into the grass, weeds, 
or crop neighboring the egg area. Upon being disturbed they inva- 
riably make the effort to hop in the direction of their so-called nest. 
Nymphs emerging from eggs upon a ditch bank, if forced into the 
water will seldom make the effort to reach the other side but will 
turn in the water and swim back to the bank from which they were 
driven. As development takes place the extent of their peregrina- 
tions into the crop is easily traced by the shot-hole appearance of 
the leaves upon which they feed. The tender leaves of cockle- 
bur are always. preferred by the grasshoppers in the early stages. 
Young Bermuda grass is also a favorite food, and succulent grasses 
of all kinds are freely eaten. In the third, fourth, and fifth stages, 
as grass, weeds, and even young shrubs disappear along the ditch 
banks and bayous, the crops of corn and cotton adjacent begin to 
