46 



In place of attempting to answer Mr. P's questions seriatim I pre- 

 sent the following general statements in reference to the "destructive 

 western locusts — caloptenvs spretus; which subject appears to be 

 attracting renewed attention both among scientists and agricultural- 

 ists, and I wish I could say of our national authorities. [Note. — 

 Since this was written Congress has ordered a commission to 

 investigate this species.] I am glad to see the subject again 

 brought before the public, especially at this time, for it is 

 one which should receive the attention not only of individuals, 

 but of the States and Territories most deeply interested, and 

 especially of our national authorities. Illinois and Missouri, 

 through their entomologists, propose to do their part of this work. I 

 may add without any desire to be egotistic, that for nearly a year I 

 have been urging two of the departments at Washington (the agri- 

 cultural and the engineer corps of the military), and have also writ- 

 ten to the executive authorities of the States and Territory bordering 

 the great plains, to take this matter in hand and properly investigate 

 it while the facts connected with the great invasion of 1874 are fresh 

 in the memory of the people visited. In each case my suggestions 

 have been very courteously received, and in some instances even 

 some preliminary steps have been taken, but these authorities, 

 although properly appreciating the importance of the subject, can- 

 not act effectively without the aid of Congress and the Legislatures. 

 But this is a matter of national importance, and can only be properly 

 investigated through the action of our national authorities. 



Although Central Asia and Arabia are given as the native home 

 of Oedipoda migratoria, yet so far as I am aware not a single swarm reach- 

 ing Europe has been traced to its starting point in Asia unless it has 

 been done recently by Koeppin, of Russia, of whose writings on this 

 subject I have seen only a short notice; yet, afte*r reaching Europe, 

 their migrations have been repeatedly traced. But here the starting 

 point and termini lie within the boundaries of our own government, 

 and with the railroads and telegraph lines traversing the great plains, 

 and running north and south near the mountains, and the military 

 posts and stations scattered over the area, it is certainly possible to 

 trace them from one extreme to the other. This done, we would then 

 be in a position to tell whether it is possible or not to devise any 

 'preventive measures. 



Their hatching ground is known to extend over the vast area 

 roughly designated by the following boundary lines : On the east, the 

 103d meridian ; on the south, the south line of Colorado and Utah ; 

 on the west, the west line of Utah, extended north to British America ; 

 the northern line being somewhere in British America, even this area 

 in the northern part being expanded indefinitely east and west. 



Now for the proof. While connected with the United States Geo- 

 logical Survey, under Dr. Hayclen, for four years, I travelled over a 

 large portion of this area, traversing it on various lines east and west 

 and north and south, studying somewhat carefully the habits of these 

 destructive locusts. During this time I noticed them in the larvae 

 and pupa f»tate, or depositing their eggs at the following places : At 

 various points along the east base of and in the bordering valleys of 

 the mountains in Wyoming and Colorado, from North Platte near 



