222 



LOCUSTS, HOPPERS, SURFACE feEETLES, ETC. 



crops owing to the peculiar conditions ; large areas of land are cleaned, 

 weeded and sown ; there is no food in the fields but the germinating 



seeds, which offer a peculiarly 

 tempting diet to these insects; 

 a few insects can destroy a 

 very large number of these 

 tender shoots and the destruc- 

 tion becomes very serious; 

 the crop is resown and again 

 eaten. The destruction of 

 successive sowings and the 

 delay in establishing the 

 crop may prove very serious, 

 and there are many cases where 

 the crops cannot be established. 

 The attacks are more general in 

 rabi sowings but occur in kharif 

 sowings especially when heavy 

 rain has not checked the insects. 

 Early sowings are most attacked 

 under some conditions, later ones 

 under others, which is a matter of climate and rainfall. 



Wheat, barley, oats, opium, tobacco, maize, sorghum, cane, gram, 

 cotton, minor millets and vegetable crops are all attacked, and these 

 insects have been observed or reported from widely separated districts of 

 India. The number of species concerned is not fully ascertained and it 

 is unnecessary to distin- 

 guish them. 



The methods of treat- 

 ment vary according to the 

 nature of the crop and the 

 insect. One general pre- 

 ventive is available in 

 almost all cases, which is 

 to provide the insects with 

 alternative food so that they 



FIG. 263. 



A common Surface Grasshopper. 

 (Slightly magnified.) 



FIG. 264. 



The small Ground Grasshopper. 

 (Magnified twice) 



will not eat the seedlings. 



The common weeds and grass in the field will provide this where it is 

 possible to defer weeding until the seed is well germinated and estab- 

 lished. Where this is not possible, another crop can be sown lightly over 

 the field so as to germinate earlier and provide food. The cultivator 



