Grasshoppers 



hopper plague, all waste land should be thoroughly harrowed or disced. 

 This harrowing and discing will break up the egg pods and scatter the 

 eggs where exposure to the air and weather will destroy them. 



Many eggs will be deposited in alfalfa fields. The practice of reno- 

 vating this crop with some one of the various makes of alfalfa renovators 

 not only destroys many grasshopper eggs, but benefits the crop as well. 

 Early spring or fall renovating is most effective in destroying grasshop- 

 per eggs. 

 Plowing 



Next to harrowing and disking, plowing egg infested land is one of 

 the most effective cultural means of preventing hopper losses. Plowing 

 alone does not destroy many of the eggs, but if the soil is plowed to a 

 depth of four to five inches and the surface thoroughly worked with the 

 harrow, a very small proportion of the young hoppers will succeed in 

 making their way to the surface. 

 Clean Culture 



Our injurious species of grasshoppers prefer weedy or grassy land as 

 places to deposit their eggs. If all waste land about fields, ditches and 

 fences is kept free of vegetation, few eggs will be deposited and adjoining 

 fields will be comparatively free from injury. 



Poultry 



Poultry, if allowed to run at large, will rid considerable areas of 

 grasshoppers. Turkeys are more valuable for this purpose then hens, as 

 they range farther and spend more time in the fields. A small flock of 

 turkeys is a double source of profit to the farmer. 



LIFE HISTORIES OF GRASSHOPPERS 



The life histories of our most injurious species of grasshoppers are 

 very similar. 



The mature females usually select some dry sunny location covered 

 with a growth of weeds or bunches of grass for depositing their eggs. The 

 eggs arc deposited in holes in the soil which are lined with a glue like 

 substance secreted during egg laying. When this becomes hardened it 

 protects the eggs from excessive drouth, moisture, and possibly to some 

 extent, from predacious insects or egg parasites. 



In making these holes the female presses the tip of her abdomen, 

 armed with four hard, curved and pointed plates (See Figs. 10 and 11, 

 Plate IV, Page 17), against the soil. By alternately opening and closing 

 these plates the soil is forced aside. 



When the hole is filled with eggs it is sealed with more of the glue- 

 like secretion. This egg cluster inclosed within its impervious case is 

 called an egg pod. Figure 8, Plate IV, Page 17 represents one of these 

 egg pods removed from the soil. A portion of the covering has been re- 

 moved near the upper end, exposing the eggs. The eggs are of a yellow- 

 ish or olive yellow color, about one-fourth of an inch long, cylindrical, 

 and slightly curved. Most females deposit two egg clusters, the total 

 number of eggs laid varying from 50 to 100 or more. 



All of our injurious grasshoppers pass the winter in the egg stage. 

 There are several species, however, that hatch in the fall and hibernate 

 in an immature state, completing their development the next summer. 



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