﻿OF THE STATE ENTOMOLOGIST. 107 



regions north and west of the region just indicated; but that a large 

 proportion of those which took wing perished on the way from debil- 

 ity, the effects of storms, and more particularly the attacks of para- 

 sites, there can be little doubt; because I proved by careful dissec- 

 tion that a large proportion of those which came to maturity and left 

 our own western counties, carried with them the germs of destruction 

 in the shape of Tac/iina eggs or the larvae already hatched and of 

 various sizes. Others again were infested with the scarlet mites. As 

 some persons have expressed doubts as to whether these locusts are 

 ever killed by the parasites I described last year, I will state that be- 

 fore the insects began to leave Missouri last Spring large numbers 

 had actually died of these parasites, and that on five different occa- 

 sions in five different localities, a hundred of the winged specimens 

 taken at random showed 5, 8, 10, 23 and 52 per cent, infested with Tachi- 

 na larvas alone, to say nothing of mites. The following items in addi- 

 tion to what is recorded on preceding pages, will show how very 

 generally over the country vacated by the locusts, this parasitism 

 occurred : 



Fort Scott, Kas., June 1. — Messrs. Durkee and Stout, extensive and successful 

 farmers near this city, report that they have cauo^ht in a sheet and killed some six or 

 seven bushels of grasshoppers or Rocky Mountain locusts. They have examined large 

 numbers of them by dissection and close inspection, and find that about nine out ot 

 every twelve so examined contain a well developed maggot, alive, and differing in size 

 and development. These they feel sure after a thorough examination, will eventually 

 kill and exterminate the entire grasshopper tribe in this country in a very short time. 

 In proof of the existence of this maggot found inside, Messrs Durkee and Stout state 

 that the large piles of grasshoppers which they have killed are almost immediatelj'' 

 alive with the maggots. 



Mr. Young, another large farmer, reports to-day that they are leaving in the last 

 few days, flying away high in the air in large numbers. All of these, however, it is 

 thought, contain the parasite or maggot above spoken of, and will never be able to do 

 any further damage. It is thought that the season of the year has come when we can 

 anticipate no further damage, and we do not any more in this section.— [From a dis-^ 

 patch to the Kansas City Times. 



The general Government should appoint a Commission to study the habits of the 

 locusts, ascertaining where they come from, and where they have gone, and obtain full 

 information concerning them. It is known that all leaving this country were covered 

 with parasites, and it is believed that these parasites destro}^ them, but there is a very 

 general feeling that too little is known of the pests, and it is the duty of the Govern- 

 ment to appoint a competent Commission for the study of their habits. Senator Ingalls 

 has telegraphed to the Secretary of War, asking him to direct military and signal offi- 

 cers throughout the Northwest to observe and report their movements. — [Correspond- 

 ence to the Chicago Tribune^ from Atchison, Kans , June 16. 



It is reported that some kind of insect has destroyed the grasshoppers in Bourbon 

 county, as they lay dead in heaps on the roadside. It is said they are dying every- 

 where in the southern part of the State. A farmer from Jefferson county says that 

 some kind of an insect or parasite is destroying them by the thousands in his locality. 

 Another farmer reports the same in his locality ; and that handsful of dead grasshop- 

 pers can be gathered. We are having continued rain-falls, and it is said the wet 

 weather is favorable to the destruction of these pests. A gentleman, just returned 

 from a tour through Jackson, Cass and Bates counties, Missouri, says the grasshoppers 

 are much more numerous in that section than in this.— [Chicago rriSifne correspond- 

 ence from Atchison, Kans., May 18. 



