240 GLEANINGS FROM NATURE. 



it is not a large, robust species, being but about the 



same size as our red-legged grasshop- 

 The Kansas ^ , , , *~ , , , 



Qrassho er P er ' a "^anng to the latter a close 

 general resemblance; so close in fact 

 that only specialists can readily tell them apart. 



Millions of dollars of damage was done in the 

 Western States by these small insects in the summers 

 of 1873 and 1875. Migrating in vast clouds from one 

 part of the country to another they would fall upon a 



cornfield and convert, in a 

 few hours, the green and 

 promising acres into a de- 

 solate Stretch of bare, Spill- 

 Fig. 66 Kansas Grasshopper. 

 Melanoplu8Spretu8(Hhler). dllllg Stalks and StUDS. Ill 



(Male.) the words of the prophet 



Joel: "The land was as the garden of Eden before 

 them, and behind them a desolate wilderness ; yea, 

 and nothing did escape them." 



The sound caused by their approach or flight was 

 almost deafening, and has been graphically described 

 as follows : 



"Onward they came, a dark continuous cloud 



Of congregated myriads numberless, 

 The rustling of whose wings was as the sound 



Of a broad river headlong in its course 

 Plunged from a mountain summit, or the roar 



Of a wild ocean in the autumn storm, 

 Shattering its billows on a shore of rock." 



Each kind of grasshopper has its favorite resort 

 where it is to be fou'nd in greatest abundance, although 

 some of them are common enough anywhere. For 

 example, there are three or four species of pea-green 



