INSECTS AFFECTING GRAINS, GRASSES, FORAGE 103 



a qolor not unlike the dark-gray alluvial soil over which they 

 feed. There are changes of color as the earlier stages are assumed, 

 but until the close of the third stage these changes are not 

 readily perceptible in the field to the naked eye. At the close 

 of stage four the greenish yellow color becomes prominent on 

 many forms, and in stage five the greenish yellow and yellow 

 brown colors predominate. The vigorous feeding and rapid 

 growth of the young in stages four and five, and the promi- 

 nence of the wing-pads in stage five, cause the grasshoppers 

 in these conditions to appear almost as conspicuous as adults. 



" The "habits of the young are interesting, and a knowledge 

 of some of them may be helpful in developing remedies. After 

 hatching they remain for several hours in close proximity to 

 the egg-pod from which they emerged. With this period of 

 faint-heartedness over, they may venture out for a few yards 

 each day into the grass, weeds, or crop neighboring the egg-area. 

 Upon being disturbed they invariably make the effort to hop 

 in the direction of the so-called nest. Nymphs emerging from 

 eggs on a ditch bank, if forced into the water, will seldom make 

 the effort to reach the other side, but will turn back to the bank 

 from which they were driven. As development takes place the 

 extent of their peregrinations into the crop is easily traced by 

 the shot-hole appearance of the leaves upon which they feed. 

 The tender leaves of cocklebur are always preferred by the 

 grasshoppers in the early stages. Young Bermuda grass is also 

 a favorite food, and succulent grasses of all kinds are freely 

 eaten. In the third, fourth, and fifth stages, as grass, weeds, 

 and even shrubs disappear along the ditch banks and bayous, 

 the crops of corn and cotton adjacent begin to show signs of 

 vigorous attack, and the march of destruction commences. ... A 

 few hours before molting the grasshoppers tend to congregate 

 and become sluggish. Molting varies as to time, and slightly 

 as to manner, with different stages. In the early stages less 

 time is required and the operation occurs on the ground or upon 

 low bunches of grass and weeds. Every effort of the grass- 

 hoppers at this time seems to be to avoid ccnspicuity, and in 



