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On American Locusts, 17 



have seen hundreds, at one time, perched upon a single 

 oak. 



I have been informed, by a great many persons who 

 witnessed the fact, that, exactly fourteen years before, 

 locusts of this species appeared in this State and in Vir- 

 ginia, in the same manner that they have clone the pre- 

 sent year ; and I heard a gentleman predict, before the 

 locusts actually came, that they would make their ap- 

 pearance, at the time they did, from his knowledge of 

 the periods of their visitation. 



It has been said, tfiat caterpillars were the first pro- 

 duct of the eggs of the locust, and that they underwent 

 various transformations, annually, for fourteen years, 

 when they again appeared in the locust- state. This 

 opinion I am unable to confirm or invalidate by any 

 observations of myi own. 



These locusts differ essentially from those which 

 make such destructive ravages in the East. 1. These 

 do not travel, before they leave their first covering. 2. 

 They fly in no particular direction. 3. They have no 

 jaws, and are, therefore, incapable of destroying vegeta- 

 tion. — They also differ materially from those which 

 make their annual, and comparatively solitary, appear- 

 ance here. 



I believe that locusts, of the kind that I have here im- 

 perfectly described, have never yet been noticed by na- 

 turalists. By the publication of this account, some who 

 have leisure and talents for observation, may, perhaps 5 



