lACKARD.) HABITS OF THE LOCUST. 627 



On the 14th of August one of the males died. The female died ou the 9th of Septem- 

 ber, and was found to contain fourteen full-sized eggs ; but I found, on examining the 

 cage, that there was also a full-sized egg-cone where she had already appeared to de- 

 posit ou the loth of July. Of the rest of the Rocky Mountain locusts, the mules were 

 caged with some female red-legged locusts caught in my garden, and although the 

 two species did not seem inclined to have much commerce with each other, I saw one 

 pair coupling. These observations are very slight and imperfect, but are given for 

 whatever thej^ might be worth. That the male dies first may be inferred, not only by 

 the above experiment, but from the fact that in September it was common to find many 

 pairs coupled, of which the female was alive, but the male had died without releasing 

 himself. 



The time required from hatching till the wings are obtained averages about two 

 months. The high and long flights characteristic to the species after the wings care 

 acquired are seldom indulged, {except when there is a fair wind. 



Just as the nuiture insects fly, as a rule, in a southeasterly direction, so the young, 

 soon after they hatch, manifest the same desire to move toward the southeast. They 

 are most active in the heat of the day, but are perhaps more ravenous at night. Tliey 

 migrate short distances every clear day, but do not like to cross a stream unless they 

 can jump it. If driven into water, however, they kick about, making considerable 

 progress, afid donot easily drown. Such, at least, are the habits of the young hatched 

 in the Mississippi Valley, though it is very probable that in their native table-lands of 

 the mountain region the migrating habit is not developed till they have acquired wiugs, 

 and are forced from hunger to seek new quarters. 



I copy the following letter from Mr. J. L. Cabot, dated Currie, ]Mian., 

 July 20, 1875, which gives a good idea of the fecundity of the insect : 



This is the third season that we have had hoppers. The first year they came ou the 

 r2th of June and deposited their eggs, and went away in four days, leaving the coun- 

 try almost totally cropless. The next season, 1874, they hatched in the last part of May, 

 and staid here until about the 4th of July. They left the county t<>tally stripped of 

 all domestic vegetation, witli the exception of about a tenth part of a crop of potatoes. 

 The State furnished the county with seed-wheat this spring, and our land was all sown 

 and planted again. Until the 4th of July crops bid fiiir for one of the largest yields 

 ever known in the State. But ou that day about noon the grasshoppers began to 

 come down in such numbers that in some places they destroyed the crops in two days. 

 They were very large ones, and left in two or three days, but had no sooner gone than 

 other hordes of smaller ones came, and in double the number, and began to lay their 

 eggs and leave. More came and took their places, and laid more eggs, and passed on 

 southwest, rolling over the prairie like heavy clouds of mist on a foggy day. And still 

 they come and go. 



Another man and myself selected an average spot in a field and dug from a foot square 

 300 cones, each cone containing an average of 30 eggs, which would make 392,040,000 

 eggs to the acre. 



We then caught about a pint of the grown hoppers and found it to contain 320 insects, 

 ■which would make 20,4ti0 to the bushel. And calculating each egg a hopper, we found 

 that next spring when they hatch out we will have 19,000 bushels to the acre, and 

 3,200,000 to the quarter-section, or 14 quarts to the square foot. And still they are 

 laying their eggs. But if they will go away to-day or to-morrow they will leave us 

 enough to live on. I can't describe the feelings of the people. We think that if the 

 State and General Government would help us to protect the grass on the prairies until 

 next June, the hoppers might be exterminated by fire. 



A few of the eggs hatch iu the autumn. This has been noticed in 

 Colorado by Mr. Byers,* and iu Missouri by Professor Riley, who states 

 that in this State " in most counties, even iu the northern ones, some 

 of the earlier eggs hatched, especially those laid on hill-sides and other 

 high ground exposed to the rays of the sun. The young hoppers at- 

 tained a size of one-fourth to one-half of an inch, and were active during 

 the middle of the day, even into December. These young hoppers dis- 

 appear and seek winter shelter; but it is doubtful whether many, if any, 

 survive the winter." (Seventh report.) In his eighth report he says 

 that in Kansas certain experiments made the following spring demon- 



* In November a correspondent of the Colorado Farmer wrote that " the young locusts 

 were hatching out in great numbers, and that the eggs deposited during the present 

 season were so far advanced toward hatching, that large numbers would be destroyed 

 by frost during the winter and spring." — (Riley's Eighth Report.) 



