packard.] bummary of present knowledge. 675 



sujvimary op our present knowledge op the locust. 



1. The eggs are laid an inch below the surface of the ground in Jnly, 

 August, and September, as the latitude varies; and the young hatch in 

 April and May, becoming fledged in about seven weeks irom early in 

 June until the last, swarming from the first of July until last of Septem- 

 ber. Birds and insects eat the eggs and young, and a mite, Tachina fly, 

 and hair-worms infest the adults. 



2. While the Rocky IMountain locust occurs permanently on the east- 

 ern slope of the liocky iMountains, on the high, dry plateaus between 

 4,000 and 7,000 feet elevation, the district liable to its periodical inva- 

 sions is between latitudes 30"3and 52°, and longitudes 1020 and 93^. It 

 occurs, though of smaller size, in Caliiornia and New England, and prob- 

 ably in British America from the Atlantic to the Pacific. 



3. Its migrations take place at irregular intervals during or after hot 

 or dry seasons, when immense swarms are borne from the Rocky Mount- 

 ain plateau by the prevailing westerly and northwesterly winds, some- 

 times 500 or 1,000 miles, into British America, Minnesota, Nebraska, 

 Kansas, Missouri, and Texas, where they lay their eggs. 



4. The progeny of the emigrant swarms return the following season 

 in a general northwest direction for at least hundreds of miles, to near 

 the original habitat on the plains. 



5. The periodical invasions may after a while be predicted with more 

 or less certainty should Government take measures to appoint suitable 

 jiersons to observe them, or delegate the task to the Weather-Signal 

 Bureau ; meanwhile, by the use of the telegraph, the arrival of swarms 

 may be announced several days in advance. 



6. In years of plenty in the border States and Territories, grain should 

 be stored up for use in locust-years. 



7. Preventive measures, such as planting of forests along lines of rail- 

 roads, around towns and extensive farms; the use of irrigation, oiling 

 ditches and canals, bonfires and prairie-fires, rolling the soil, and col lection 

 of eggs ; bounties to be paid by Government in the Territories, or by the 

 local authorities in the States infested, for the egg-sacs. 



8. Co-operation among farmers and others in resisting the attacks of 

 insects to be enforced by proper legislation, both in the Territories and 

 border States. 



9. We still need more light on the natural history and migrations of 

 the locust, and the United States Government should appoint entomol- 

 ogists, who should study the locust comprehensively for several years iu 

 succession. Local entomologists should be appointed for each Territory, 

 and the border State legislatures should appoint salaried entomologists 

 to further study and report on the locust, and serve for a term of years 

 until the entire subject be studied, and the knowledge thus acquired be 

 freely diifused among the agricultural community. 



FURTHER INPORMATION NEEDED. 



It may be found on subsequent examination that some, if not many, 

 so-called facts and inductions from such facts given in this report are 

 erroneous. Indeed, regarding the laws regulating the migrations of the 

 locust, the greater the number of facts observed, and the greater the 

 area of observation, the less certain seem the opinions already formed 

 by entomologists. Repeated observations by reliable entomologists and 

 the careful sifting of facts recorded by unscientific observers are needed 



