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the tip of her abdomen into the soil, and at the same time working 

 the plates at the apex in such a manner that she will gradually bore 

 a circular hole from one to one and a-half inches in depth, according 

 to species, and about a quarter of an inch in diameter. Some species 

 will lay their eggs in old logs or stumps ; then, after the eggs are 

 laid, the whole is covered up with a plug of gummy substance. 

 There is but one generation a year, and in most cases the winter is 

 passed in the egg state. 



The most damage is caused by the grasshoppers while yet in 

 the hopper stage, before maturity or winged stage. 



The question of dealing with the locust swarms is a- very 

 perplexing one. Whenever locust swarms make their appearance 

 it is generally found that they will extend over many thousand 

 square miles of country at the same time ; and all methods employed 

 in their destruction up to the present time have only been partially 

 successful. A few years ago it was expected that the application 

 of the African locust fungus would successfully destroy these locust 

 swarms, but this, too, has proved a failure. In the United States of 

 America there are some sections where they use what are termed 

 hopperdozers in locust infested districts. These are made of iron 

 or tin, in the form of flat trays, containing kerosene or tar, and are 

 either pulled or pushed along against the wind, and the hoppers, in 

 trying to get out of the way, will jump in or are blown in and 

 killed, and millions are thus destroyed in a very short time. The 

 poisoned bran mash has also proved a very successful remedy in 

 reducing the number of hoppers. This consists of mixing lib. of 

 arsenic, lib. of sugar, 61bs. of bran, water added to make a mash. 

 Mix the dry bran and arsenic in a tub ; dissolve the sugar in suffi- 

 cient water to make the mixture into a mash. A teaspoonful of 

 the bait will kill locusts eating it a week after it has been laid out, 

 but though its action is slow it is sure, and kills them in a few 

 hours. The sugar is added to make the arsenic adhere to the flakes 

 of bran. 



Natural Enemies. It was expected last year to secure from 

 New South Wales some of the tachma fly parasites which are to be 

 found in that State; but owing to the dry condition of the country 

 at the time, no locusts were to be found. This parasite is itself, in 

 turn, heavily parasitised by an ichneumon fly. There can be no 

 doubt but that if we could introduce the tachina fly into this State, 

 and leave the ichneumon or secondary one behind, they would do 

 more to check the locust swarins than all the artificial methods 

 which we could apply. While in China, the writer found that there 

 is a parasite in that country which destroys the eggs of the locust ; 

 and it is the egg parasite that will accomplish the most in holding 

 these hoppers in subjection, as they destroy the locust before they 

 have reproduced themselves. 



To give the readers an idea of how locusts may be transplanted 

 from one country to another, it will be interesting to relate what the 

 writer was told, on a recent voyage from Naples to Fremantie, by 



