﻿OF THE STATE ENTOMOLOGIST. 139 



specimens. A great many were hatched out last week, and millions were killed all 

 along: by heavy rains and some few by birds, etc. — [Extract from a private letter from 

 Uriah Bruner, Omaha, Nebraska, June 8, 1868. 



Enclosed find gfrasshoppers. The two with strings attached have parasites on 

 their wings, and it is asserted by many that thousands have been killed by those lice. 

 The grasshoppers are leaving about as fest as they can fly, and some are coming frouj 

 other parts. We have less now than we had some time ago. "Wheat and some or most 

 kinds of garden vegetables the grasshoppers devour as fast as they can, while prairie 

 grass, oats, etc., though they are just as plenty on, they seem to eat a great deal less of, 

 probably not more than is necessary to subsist them. — [Letter extract from same, June 

 19, 1868. 



The hlstort of these grasshoppers, as far as it relates to this part of the country, 

 is as follows : About the last of September. 1866, they made their appearance for the 

 first time, so far as I know, in this part of the country. They came in millions from 

 the south, southwest and west, and were so numerous as to almost darken the sun: in 

 other words, the heavens seemed from about ten in the morning till three in the after- 

 noon to be filled with them. They lit, ate up cabbages. Fall wheat and nearly destroyed 

 many meadows. They cohabited, and shortly after deposited their eggs in the ground 

 in countless millions. In the Spring the eggs hatched, and after they had obtained the 

 full size they rose in the air and were carried away to other parts. 



In 1867 they came again and deposited their eggs in the Fall, and the specimens I 

 send are from them. The number of eggs deposited last Fall was not as great as in the 

 Fall of 1866. 



I he grasshoppers hatched here injure our Spring crops and then leave, to be fol- 

 lowed in the Fall by others from the far West to prey upon our fall vegetation and de- 

 posit their eggs for another crop. One farmer told me a few days ago that the damage 

 which he sustained from them last year could not have been less than $1,500. Last 

 Fall I put in some Fall wheat which was entirely consumed by them. * "" * 



I am of the opinion that stirring the ground in the Fall exposed the eggs to the 



action of the frost and destroyed man j'^ of them, as but few were seen there this Spring. 



The hogs in the Spring root the ground over for their eggs and destroy many of them. 



* * * — [Letter extract from Stephen Blanchard, Oregon, Holt county, Missouri, 



July 13, 1868. 



* * This morning and some portion of yesterday the wind was in the east, but 

 this morning soon changed to the west, and we thought about 10 o'clock that it would- 

 rain, but about noon, or perliaps a little before, the wind changed to the north, audi 

 about 2 o'clock the grasshoppers began to fall about as fast as the flakes of snow fall, 

 until the ground was literally covered with them. — [Letter extract from same, Aug. 

 10, 1868. 



My corn has been quite badly injured by the "Western Locust." I have a small 

 orchard of about 200 trees that have been greatly injured. 



My trees set out this Spring (about 50) are as naked of leaves as they should he in 

 February next. The trees set out a year ago are badly injured, and so are those set 

 out three years ago. If you will send me by mail a little of the article which you 

 recommend I will most gladly try it, and will give you the results. They have been 

 coupling for increase for several days past. They are not now as numerous as they 

 have been, and if they leave before they deposit their eggs in the ground for Spring 

 hatching we may get rid of them. 



It may be also that as it is so much earlier than heretofore when they came, that 

 their eggs might hatch this Fall. In this case they will not do us much injury in the 

 Spring lor the reason that the Winter would kill them.— [Letter extract from same, 

 Aug. 24, 1868. 



I send you herewith, specimens of the Red-legged Locust, Avhich frequently over- 

 runs our extreme western regions, but appeared here for the first time last Fall. They 

 are quite as ruinous to us as Yankee carpet-baggers and scalJawags ! I will give you a 

 brief sketch of them also — the insect Locusts, not the others ! — [Extract from a private 

 letter from the late Thos. Affleck, Brenham, Washington county, Texas, July 20, 1868; 



Those hatched from eggs which were deposited after migrating to this country, 

 so distant from their natural habitat, do not copulate before their departure hence. Thab 

 you may record as a fact, general, I think, if not universal. — [Letter extract from same, 

 Aug. 22, 1868. 



In the Appendix will be found a letter from Mr. Affleck giving a 

 more full and interesting account of his experience with this pest 



