FACKAUD] THE LOCUST IN WYOMING. GOl 



Tbeso facts, if added to the experi uco of the last three years in Kansas, Ni^braskn, 

 Dakota, Minuesota, and Manitoba, will sutfico to show, not only how extensive their 

 range is, bnt also how varied their fliijht is, and that there are no particular spo's 

 ■which can be said to form their permanent hatchin<^-<j;ronnd8. That they jii'cfer the 

 elevated saudy i>lateans and terraces in the mountain districts is certain, but that any 

 particuhir localities form the permanent hives from which the swarm issue cannot bo 

 maintained. Yet that those which visit Kansas and Nebraska, and even Dakota and 

 Minnesota, originate usually within a certain portion of the mountain region appears 

 highly probable. While there aie some exceptions to the rule, yet it is evident that the 

 general course of their llight east of the mountains is southeast. Tlie distance trav- 

 eled by any particular swarm, so far as I auj awan^, has never been positively ascer- 

 tained, yet enough is known to indicate that this may extend for at least two or three 

 hundred miles. The hordes which visited C()U>rado in 18(i4 are supposed by Colonel 

 Byers to have originated in Montana, along the Yellowstone ; and the swarm which I 

 traced through Sweetwater Valley probably traveled over 200 miles ; yet the evidence 

 is not posicive in either case, though strongly presumptive. 



Moj. J. W. Powell informs me that in August, 18G7, he encountered 

 vast numbers of locusts in the region northwest of Pike's Peak, as he 

 drove his wagons for live days through then], traveling at the rate of 20 

 miles a day. It is not probable that this was C. sjiretus. 



In August, 1875, Mr. P. 11. Uhler visited Colorado, and sends me the 

 following notes on C. Hpretus : 



When I tirst reached Golden, on August 6, small flocks of the C. sprdits were flving 

 from the direction of northwest (over the peaks evidently) and aligliting on the hills 

 and upon the crops in the irrigated tields; bnt these were nothing to tlie hordes which 

 poured into the country near Manitou about August 1;?-1G. 



All the flocks that I saw consisted of C. sprtlus. I met with this species everywhere, 

 from north of Denver to south of Canon City, in the mountains and on the plains. Bnt 

 I did not see them as far east as Bijon. P('rhaj)8 (hey don't love that locality. And 

 I noticed that the flocks alighted in particular spots, an<l did not ap[iear all, over tho 

 plains and hills west of Colorado Springs. Evidently they preferred some spots to 

 others of the same kind of surface-soil. 



In the Proceedings of the Davenport Academy of Sciences, Mr. J. D. 

 Putnam writes as follows regarding his experience with the locust iu 

 Colorado : 



I h.ave collected this species iu various parts of Colorado. It was quite plentiful on 

 the plains between Denver and Boulder City in June, lf->7'2, and lattr in the season I 

 found it abundant in the mounlains at Empire City. On August 1 they were very 

 abundant higli uj) above the timber-line on Parry's Peak. Vast numbers were chilled 

 by the snow and lay at the base of the snow-drifts in beans. They could be seen, iilling 

 the air like snow-flakes, to a great height above the extreme summit of the peak, 

 13,133 feet. The wind v/as from a westerly <lirection. In September, this year (1872), I 

 found them in great abundance in Middle Park. In 1H74 1 flrst noticed this species on 

 Gold Hill, Boulder County, July 8, and on July 11 they appeared at Valmont and other 

 places on the plains in great abundance, and did great damage. They received several 

 large re-euforcenients during the foUowing week. After remaining st^veral days, these 

 seemed to disappear, but oidy to make room for another swarm; and thus they kept 

 coming and going durii^g the rest of the summer uniil nothing eatable was left. At 

 Empire City they were very abundant during the wh(de of my stay, from August to 

 October, but they seemed to eat bnt very little, if anything. At Canon City, in Octo- 

 ber, I found them very abundant. They were very sluggish, and the sidewalks were 

 covered with the dead and dying. Liirge numbers were seen paired. The young grass- 

 hoppers hatched out abundantly early in April, 187.5. In 1873 I found then'i in ditierent 

 parts of Western Wyoming, l)etween Fort Bridger and the Yellowstone Lake; but on 

 the plains bordering the Stinking Water River, in July, they were more abundantthan 

 I had ever seen them elsewhere before. In June, 1875, 1 collected a few near the trans- 

 fer depot at Council Bluffs, Iowa. This is the most eastern locality I have yet seen it. 

 In Utah last summer I failed to see a single specimen, although I looked specially for 

 it. (Page2G5.) 



THE LOCUST IN WYOMING. 



In going from Cheyenne to Salt Lake City, July 19 and 20, over the 

 Union Pacific Railroad, no locust wa.s seen, and the absence of insect- 

 life within the limits of Wyoming was remarkable. As soon as tho 



