136 INSECTS AFFECTING THE ORANGE. 



inches long, exclusive of its members; it is very heavy, clumsy, and 

 slow in its movements. 



There is but a single brood; after depositing its eggs, in September 

 and October, the insect disappears and is not seen again until the young 

 come out of the ground in the following spring. 



Absence of enemies. The Lubber Grasshopper has no known enemies. 

 Predaceous animals cannot be induced to feed upon it, and doubtless 

 its juices have an acrid and disagreeable flavor. Its sluggish habits, 

 taken in connection with its conspicuous coloration, show that it has 

 little need of concealment, and that it does not fear attacks of enemies. 

 The eggs are probably preyed upon by some species of Bee-fly (Bomby- 

 liidcc), but if such an enemy exists it remains as yet undiscovered. 



Remedy. So large and conspicuous an insect is not likely ever to 

 prove an alarming pest, and hardly requires elaborate directions for its 

 management. If care is taken to destroy the young broods by tramp- 

 ling upon them when they appear in early summer, and before they 

 have scattered, there will be an end to anxiety from this source for the 

 season, and with a little pains taken at the proper time for two or three 

 successive seasons a farm may be entirely rid of these 'hoppers, even if 

 previously much infested by them. 



OTHER LOCUSTS (Acridiidce). 



The various species of Acrid iidse, grasshoppers, as they are com- 

 monly called, nibble the leaves of orange trees, but do serious injury 

 only where weeds are allowed to grow up around the trees. From their 

 size and voracity the species of the genus Acridium, of which three are 

 found in Florida, are most injurious. They are large insects, 2 or 2J 

 inches long, and are very active, jumping and flying to great distances. 



In Acridium obscurum Burin, the general color is olive green, with 

 fuscous dots and a yellow stripe from the head to the tip of the closed 

 wings. The wing-covers are chocolate brown. 



Acridium americanum Scud. (Fig. 55) is very similar, but the general 



Fio. 55. Acridium americanum. (After Biley.) 



color is reddish-brown and the wing-covers are marked with large 

 brownish spots. 

 Acridium alataceum Harr. is dull brownish-yellow in color, and the 



