THE ORTHOPTERA 



83 



live abundance, not only in the West but in all parts of the country 

 wherever they become so plenty as to lay large numbers of eggs in ground 

 not cultivated, such as pastures. Under such conditions, a sudden, 

 more or less local outbreak of these insects may take place in the spring, 

 the damage being caused in these cases, at first by the feeding of the 

 nymphs, and later, if nothing is done, by the adults. 



Aside from plowing, harrowing or disking land in which grasshoppers 

 breed, before the eggs hatch in the spring, the most successful method 

 of control when they appear in sufficient abundance to make treatment 

 necessary, is the use of a poisoned bait. There are various formulas for 

 this, but there is no marked difference in the results in most cases. 



One in general use is: wheat bran, 25 lb.; Paris green or white arsenic, 



1 lb.; oranges or lemons, 6 fruits finely chopped; low-grade molasses, 



2 qt. Mix the bran and poison well, dry; then add the chopped fruit 

 and its juice; finally add the molasses and stir thoroughly. Enough 

 water 2 or 3 gal. should be added to this so that each flake of the bran 

 is sufficiently moist to have some of the poison adhere to it, and also 

 take up the flavor of the fruit and molasses, yet not enough to make 

 the flakes stick and prevent sowing broadcast. This amount of material 

 should be sufficient to spread over two or three acres. In the Eastern 

 States and wherever the air is moist, the best results are obtained by 

 spreading the bait very early in the morning. In arid or semiarid 

 regions, 3 or 4 gal. of water may be needed in the. mixture, which should 

 be distributed toward night. 



A form of poisoned bait, known as the modified Griddle Mixture, 

 substitutes a half barrel of fresh horse droppings for the bran and 

 omits the molasses. The only advantage with this is that it can be used 

 where bran is too expensive or hard to obtain. 



FIG. 58. FIG. 59. 



FIG. 58. Red-legged Grasshopper (Melanoplus fcmur-rubrum De G.) about natural 

 size. (Reduced from U. S. D. A. Farm. -Bull. 747 ) 



FIG. 59. California Devastating Grasshopper (Melanoplus devastator Scudd.) about 

 natural size. (Reduced from U. S. D. A. Farm. Bull. 747.) 



There are many kinds of grasshoppers in the United States. Among the 

 more abundant and therefore injurious species, may be mentioned the red-legged 

 grasshopper (Melanoplus femur-rubrum De G., Fig. 58), about an inch long, its 

 hind tibiae bright red; the California devastating grasshopper (Melanoplus 

 devastator Scudd., Fig. 59), a little smaller, found in the Western States; the 

 differential grasshopper (Melanoplus differentiates Thorn.), about an inch and a 



