REPORT OF THE ENTOMOLOGIST AND BOTANIST. 185 



When examining the insects on Mr. Leonard Sawyer's farm a' few miles south of 

 Deloraine, on 8th July, Mr. Sawyer took me to a ravine where he had noticed a great 

 many dead locusts lying among the grass. These were found to have been destroyed 

 by the larvae of a dipterous parasite. By digging down into the ground beneath the 

 dead locusts, from 1 to 8 of these larvae could be found, and the dead locusts were so 

 numerous that they lay in every direction among the grass at a distance of only an inch 

 or two from each other. Tachina flies and Flesh-flies were extremely abundant. Upon 

 catching several of the locusts in both the pupal and the perfect stages, by far the larger 

 proportion of them were found to contain the maggots of a fly, and in addition a great 

 many of them were infested with locust mites, Tro?Jibidi»im locustarum, Riley. Although 

 many of the maggots of .the parasites had buried, none were found which had hardened 

 into brown puparia. This was on 8th July, which may be considered the time when 

 the first brood of maggots leaves the locusts. These latter were just passing the last 

 moult and assuming the winged form. They were hanging in every direction from the 

 stems of grasses, stretching their tissue-paper-like wings by means of their long hind 

 legs. A box was filled wdth the parasitic maggots and from these were bred (22nd to 

 26th July), both at Ottawa and by Dr. Scudder, at Boston, large numbers of a flesh-fly 

 which has been named through the kindness of Mr. D. W. Coquillett, of "Washington, 

 and pronounced to be " a species of Sarcophaga near incerta, Walker." They were 

 bred from the living locusts, some of the larvae being actually taken from insects caught 

 flying in the field. 



Dr. Scudder, who kindly furnished me with this identification, also named some 

 other locusts taken at Deloraine among the specimens of M. spretus, as Melanoplus ailanis, 

 Riley, M. minor, Scudd., Cammila pellucida, Scudd., and Gomphoceriis sp. 



Efforts were made during the past autumn to discover where eggs were laid and to 

 secure specimens, but all to no avail. Many observers in all the infested localities tried 

 to help me in this matter, but none could find that eggs had been laid. The weather 

 was exceptionally dull and wet. Notwithstanding that no eggs could be found, farmers 

 are earnestly urged to plough all the stubble land that is possible, and endeavour to do 

 this before the middle of June, whether it is to be cropped or summer-fallowed. This 

 matter is one of far too much importance for any one to run the risk of trusting to luck 

 that all will be well, when so much is at stake. Although no eggs have been found, I 

 observed the locusts copulating on 17th August, and large numbers of healthy females 

 wdth their abdomens well filled with eggs. 



I append extracts from letters referring to this outbreak in which most of the 

 points of importance are brought forward : — 



"Boissevain, July 9. — I received your letter respecting the locust invasion in 

 southern Manitoba. I have made general inquiries and had extracts from your letter 

 published in local papers. So far, no one has observed any parasitic destruction of the 

 pests ; but that may have been from the fact that, soon after I reported to you, the colony 

 which appeared close to the bush on two farms near here seemed to disperse in a 

 northerly direction. Some were found three miles north of the point where they first 

 appeared. Of course, in this scattered fashion no immediate or general destruction of 

 crops has been observed, but the danger may be all the more serious for another year. 

 I understand that extensive precautions are being taken to the south in the way of deep 

 ploughing, &c." — [Charles A. Sankey.] 



"Boissevain, August 14. — I have been unable to discover any number of dead 

 locusts or any of the parasites you asked about. The swarm is now scattered over a 

 distance of a five or six mile radius from the spot where they were first observed, in 

 varying numbers ; we have them here in small quantities. I found one farm, near the 

 bush, where small patches of the wheat heads appeared to have been stripped of the 

 grains, and I discovered a few locusts and a number of several species of ordinary grass- 

 hoppers in the grass surrounding the field. I hope you will discover from your 

 investigations that the danger for next year is, after all, not so great as we fear, but I 

 do trust that if there is any danger you will not minimise it in the least, as farmers 

 are only too ready to put off the thought of an evil day, especially if they can avoid 



