Grasshoppers 



The adult female (Fig. 17, Plate V, Page 19) deposits her eggs, a few 

 of which are shown above the figure, in clusters of from 300 to 400. These 

 are placed below the surface of the soil, often to a depth of 1| to 2 inches. 

 The adult male, which is smaller than the female, is shown in Figure 18, 

 Plate V, Page 19. 



In due time the minute, orange-red larvae, one of which is shown 

 much enlarged in Figure 2, Plate V, Page 19, emerge. These larvae 

 possess but three pairs of legs. However, they are very active and soon 

 become attached to a grasshopper as shown in Figure 1, Plate V, Page 

 19. Usually the young mites are found under the wing pads when there 

 are but a few on an individual. 



These mites are sometimes mistaken for the red eggs of some parasite. 



The bodies of the young locust mites become distended in true tick 

 fashion after feeding on a grasshopper and drop to the ground, moving 

 about with difficulty in this condition. After secluding themselves 

 under trash or among the clods on the surface of the soil the change to the 

 pupa and from the pupa to the adult takes place. The adults, which 

 feed upon the eggs of grasshoppers, spend the winter secluded beneath 

 any object which furnishes protection from the weather. 



Hair Worms 



The hair worms or hair 

 snakes (Fig. 17, Page 107, 

 Fig. 18, Page 108, and Fig. 

 16, Plate IV, Page 17) are 

 still believed by some to 

 be animated horse hairs. 

 Even those knowing the fal- 

 lacy of this old belief do not 

 always know the relation of 

 these worms to other living 

 creatures. The majority of 

 those hair or "Gordian 

 worms" observed swimming 

 about in stagnant pools or 

 the margins of streams and 

 in irrigation ditches belong 

 to the genus Gordius. 



The worms of this group 

 are parasitic within insects. 

 The eggs are laid in water, 

 usually in the spring, and in 

 the course of a week or ten 

 days the young worms 

 emerge. They are armed 

 with piercing mouth parts 

 with which they force their 

 way into the body of some insect where they become encysted in its 

 muscles. This insect is in turn eaten by some other within which the 

 encysted hair worm completes its development. Many Rocky Mountain 

 locusts were destroyed by these worms during the outbreak of this insect 



107 



Fig. 17. Hair Worm escaping from a parasitized 

 Ground Beetle 



