Nineteenth Report of the 

 State Entomologist 



GRASSHOPPERS 



The spring of 1921 found practically all the agricultural counties 

 of the State with a very serious grasshopper problem. In western 

 Montana the egg beds of the warrior grasshopper {Gamnula pellucida 

 Scudder) extended over miles of territory through Sanders, Flathead, 

 and Missoula counties, and upon hatching the young hoppers threatened 

 the crops to the extent of complete destruction. The condition in the 

 Centennial Valley in Beaverhead County was very much improved, due 

 to an effective campaign in 1920, although some work there was again 

 necessary. 



Through those counties lying just east of the Continental Divide, 

 particularly Gallatin, Jefferson, Lewis and Clark, Teton, and Pondera, 

 the warrior hopper was again the chief species concerned, but in many 

 sections through these counties the lesser-migratory grasshopper {Mel- 

 mioplus atlanis Riley) was also present in very destructive numbers. 



In central and eastern Montana, altliough the two-striped grass- 

 hopper {Melanoplus hivittatus Say) and the warrior grasshopper were 

 present in considerable numbers, the great prol^lem was with the lesser- 

 migratory species. This species, which has manifested many of the 

 characteristics of the old Koeky Mountain migratory locust {Melano- 

 plus spreius Uhler) that caused such devastation of crops in the early 

 days, was responsible for damage in practically every county in this 

 part of the State and in most of the counties was present in such num- 

 bers that organized control campaigns against it were imperative. Al- 

 though well worth while in point of crops saved, many of these cam- 

 paigns were by no means extensive enough to prevent very serious losses. 

 In many localities where a comparatively small num})er of farms lie 

 surrounded by large areas of idle land, on which the lesser-migratory 

 grasshopper is especially wont to breed, control measures were imprac- 

 ticable. In southeastern Montana, from Big Horn County east to 

 Carter, damage to the range by swarms of grasshoppers constituted a 

 great loss to the stockmen of that region. The native grasses Avero 

 destroyed to such an extent that the feed on the range was so sparse 



