24 INJURIOUS INSECTS OF KANSAS. 



FIG. 13. ROCKY MOUNTAIN LOCUST; a, a, a, females laying eggs; b, egg-pod with bro- 

 ken end, taken from ground; c, eggs taken from pod; d, e, egg-pods in place below 

 surface of ground; /, place where an egg-pod is buried. 



Remedies. There are several natural enemies of the Rocky 

 Mountain Locust which do good work in keeping the pest down. 

 A minute, red mite fastens itself on the body near the base of the 

 wings and sucks its blood ; several flies are parasitic upon it, and 

 birds eat the locusts with relish. The artificial remedies are most 

 effective when applied to the young or unfledged (wingless) lo- 

 custs, and will be discussed under the head of "Injurious Grass- 

 hoppers." 



Kansas Notes. The State was invaded by the Rocky Mountain 

 Locust in 1866. In 1868 a few (comparatively) locusts descended 

 in Riley county. In 1874 another great invasion occurred, and 

 the next spring much harm was done by young hatching from 

 eggs deposited the previous fall by the invaders. As soon as 

 these young acquired wings, however, about June 1, they flew 

 away to the northwest, attempting to return to their native hab- 

 itat. In 1876 fresh swarms appeared from the northwest, and 

 great injury was done. 



We have now gone so long without hearing from our voracious 

 friends of the northwest, that it is probable that changed condi- 

 tions, such as the increase of the food-supply in their breeding 

 region, etc., render unnecessary any further straying from home 

 in search of Kansas corn. It is certainly most devoutly to be 

 hoped that such is the case. 



An occasional "grasshopper scare" in western Kansas keeps 

 alive the remembrance of the early troubles, but these " scares " 



