THE PRACTICAL ENTOMOLOGIST. 



dii Latreille,) by the female always having a long 

 sfrord-shaped ovipositor projecting from the tip of 

 her tail. 



THE HATEFUL GRASSHOPPER IN MINNESOTA, 

 1861)— 7. 



" For two years in succession — 1856 and 1S57 — the grass- 

 hoppers destroyed our crops, and many resolved then to 

 keep two years' supply of produce on hand afterwards. 

 One fact t noticed : although they ate the bark from sap- 

 lings, and consumed our corn, tobacco, Ac, ate holes in 

 clolhes hanging out to dry, and destroyed boots and shoes 

 when they lit on them in the house, yet peas they avoid- 

 ed, and it was an odd sight to see the field completely 

 stripped, even of the weeds, and the pea-patch left un- 

 disturbed. There was no turning to the right or left with 

 them ; they went hopping on to the tune of John Brown, 

 and they may be hopping yet for aught I know." (From 

 a letter by 0. H. Kelley, of Anoka Co., Minn., printed in 

 the Country Gentleman, July 31, 1862.) 

 THE HATEFUL GRASSHOPPER IN NEBRASKA, 1866. 

 *-In Nebraska the grasshoppers, according to the papers 

 of Leavenworth, Kansas, had crossed Salt Creek and 

 Weeping Waters, having come from the West, destroying 

 everything in their course." (JK Y.Sem. Tribune, Sep. 2ii, 

 1866.) 



" The grasshoppers, which have devoured everything 

 about Fort Kearny, [Nebraska,] are rapidly approaching 

 the River, and may yet sweep over Missouri. A few 

 days ago they appeared in clouds at Seneca, Kansas, five 

 miles west of St. Joseph. Mo. It is said that they will 

 average one hundred to every square foot of surface." 

 (From the Boston Cultivator, Sep. 22, 1866.) 



The following is from the Nebraska correspond- 

 ent of the Ro(-k Island Union, and was printed in 

 that paper September 25, 1866: — 



Nebuaska City, September 8, 1866. 



Col. Barses. — Fourteen miles north-west of Nebraska 

 City, I have lately been a witness to a sight, rare and 

 singular to me. The last day of August, near the middle 

 of the afternoon, cjuite a number of grasshoppers were 

 Been alighting, and that number rapidly increased till a 

 little before sunset. The next morning they appeared 

 much thicker, but were only so from having crawled 

 more into the open air to sun themselves. About nine 

 o'clock they began to come thicker and faster from a 

 northerly direction, swarming in the air by myriads, and 

 making a roar like suj^pressed distant thunder. By look- 

 ing well up to the sun they could be seen to good advan- 

 tage, and could be seen as high as the eye could discover 

 an object so small, in appearance like a heavy snow- 

 storm, each hopper very much like a very large flake, 

 save that it passed by instead of falling. The number was 

 beyond imagination — the leaves of the timber in this sec- 

 tion of the Territory would be but little in comparison. 

 The air was literally full of them, and continued so till 

 along in the afternoon, when the air was free of them, 

 countless millions having passed on, leaving other count- 

 less millions covering the earth to devour vegetation. 

 Sunday and Monday being cloudy and damp, they eon- 

 tented themselves by devouring every eatable thing that 

 came in their way, but Tuesday brought a repetitiou of 

 the scene of Saturday. Since then they have not flown 

 BO much, and at this writing there are millions of them 

 in this neighborhood, fortunately working their way a 

 little east of south. I could not say ''go, erring sisters, 

 go,'' but I could heartily say, '*go, you famine-creating, 

 pestilential, devouring nuisance, and as you pass over 

 water, forest and prairie, may the fishes of the water, 

 beasts of the forest and fowls of the air, grow fat upon 

 your little carcasses, till the last one of you finds your 

 last camping ground in the power of some hungry en- 

 emy." 



Their present visitation may be for some good, but I 

 am too blind to see it. Their ravages here have drawn 

 down many a hearty, yet uuoouth, expression of disgust 

 and hate from henest and hard-working farmers. Go in- 

 to the gardens, and see them stripped of nearly every 

 vestige of vegetation, both stock and fruit; go into the- 

 field, and see the vines of all sorts stripped 'of all their 

 leaves and eaten to the ground; go and see the corn, as 

 completely naked as if some violent storm had torn every 

 blade from the stalks, leaving it looking like a lot of de- 



generate hoop-poles ; go into the orchards and timber, and 

 see many of the smaller trees especially, almost bare, the 

 leaves having been devoured by these ravaging creatures. 

 Many a sad sight and many a downcast countenance 

 now fill the roll. May a new tide in the affairs of the 

 farmers here better their footing next year. 



Yours, as ever, S. C. Maxima. 



THE HATEFUL GRASSHOPPER IN KANSAS, 1866. 



From a letter from Prof W. S. Eobertson, of 

 Kansas, dated Sept. 12, 1866, and accompanied by 

 numerous specimens of the perfect insect : — 



The Grasshoppers sent herewith are popularly known 

 here as the "Mormon," "Western" or "Colorado" Grass- 

 hoppers. Last month they made their appearance in the 

 frontier settlements of Kansas and Nebraska. To-day I 

 was expecting specimens to send you, and they came — 

 not a pill-box full, but in clouds. As high as the eye 

 could reach, the air was filled with them; and they came 

 down glittering in the sunlight like huge flakes of snow, 

 and at once commenced their vocation of destroying 

 every green thing. Indian corn, however, seems their fa- 

 vorite food, and they promise to be as destructive to it as 

 their neighbors, the Spearmen, have been to the potato. 

 On the Nemaha the late corn has been entirely destroy- 

 ed by them. Even where some men hastily cut up and 

 shocked their corn, the grasshoppers continued their de- 

 predations, until only the bare stalks remained. Wheat 

 when sown was eaten up, if left uncovered. 



In many places the ground is fairly honeycombed by 

 their egg-cells, which are from 3-lOtlis to S-lOths of an 

 inch in depth. The common length of the egg-cells is 1 and 

 3-10th3 of an inch; but by calling on a number of boys 

 for a large one and a small one, I found the extremes to 

 be 1 and B-lOths and 9-lOths of an inch. I have observ- 

 ed that these grasshoppers are preyed on by certain spe- 

 cies of Libdlula, iDragon-fly or Snake-feeder.) 



The following is from the special correspondent 

 of the N. Y. Tribune, and appears in the Semi' 

 weekly of September 28, 1866 :— 



Council Grove, Kansas, September 8, 1866. 



Soon after noon on Saturday, Sept. 1, a tremendoua 

 shower of grasshoppers came from the South, completely 

 filling the air as high as one could see, and looking like a 

 driving snow-storm. In a few moments the ground, trees, 

 bushes and everything green was completely covered. In 

 less than two hours the leaves of trees, bushes, corn and 

 everything green was devoured. The weather since then 

 has been cool and wet, so that they could not leave, as 

 they move only in hot, dry weather. The grasshoppers 

 are now lying thick over 'everything, eating the ears of 

 corn, oats, all the bark off the trees and shrubs, water- 

 melons, cucumbers, cabbage-heads, pumpkins, &e. It 

 will be impossible to sow Fall wheat here unless they 

 leave soon. The wheat, oats, rye and barley crops were 

 first-rate here this year. Corn is cut a little short by dry 

 weather, and is cut down by grasshoppers; still there 

 will be enough. 



The following is from the iV. Y. Scm. Tribune 

 of October 5, 1866 :— 



Jons A. NoTTENSTEiN, Humboldt, Allen County, Kan- 

 sas, writes, Sept. 11: — "Yesterday the red-legged locusts 

 made their appearance in this vicinity, and are devour- 

 ing everything green. They almost darken the sun in 

 their flight. I put in 65 acres of wheat in the last week 

 of August, which looked fine, but it has nearly all disap- 

 peared. By to-morrow night there will not be a spear 

 left. Early sown wheat will be totally ruined. You will 

 probably hear that they (the locusts) are grasshoppers, 

 but rest assured they are not." We suppose this to be the 

 same pest which has devastated portions of Utah, Color- 

 ado. Nebraska and Minnesota. 



The Lawrence (Kansas) Journal of September 

 12, 1866, speaks as follows of the grasshopper in- 

 vasion : — 



In Brown County they covered a track twelve miles 

 in width, and consumed pretty much everything green. 

 Trees were stripped of their leaves, grass eaten u]), and 

 corn-fields literally stripped to the stalk. It is fortunate 

 they have come so late in the season as they have, after 



