﻿EEPORT 
  UNITED 
  STATES 
  GEOLOGICAL 
  SURVEY. 
  

  

  m 
  

  

  mer 
  that 
  came 
  fresh 
  from 
  the 
  direction 
  of 
  tbe 
  mountains, 
  and 
  by 
  attaching 
  their 
  legs 
  

   by 
  fine 
  silk 
  threads 
  to 
  a 
  small 
  spring 
  balance, 
  found 
  that 
  their 
  physical 
  strength 
  was 
  

   from 
  25 
  to 
  50 
  per 
  cent, 
  greater 
  than 
  that 
  of 
  grasshoppers 
  treated 
  the 
  same 
  way 
  that 
  

   were 
  hatched 
  in 
  Nebraska 
  or 
  in 
  States 
  farther 
  eastward 
  or 
  northward. 
  The 
  same 
  re- 
  

   sult 
  was 
  reached 
  by 
  caging 
  them, 
  and 
  ascertaining 
  how 
  long 
  they 
  would 
  live 
  without 
  

   food, 
  and 
  also 
  by 
  vivisection. 
  In 
  some 
  places, 
  also, 
  the 
  eggs 
  that 
  were 
  laid 
  in 
  differerrt 
  

   years 
  since 
  1864 
  did 
  not 
  hatch 
  out. 
  The 
  changes 
  from 
  es:trerae 
  wet 
  to 
  dry, 
  and 
  from 
  

   cold 
  to 
  hot 
  weather, 
  or 
  some 
  other 
  unknown 
  causes, 
  seem 
  to 
  sa^) 
  their 
  constitutional 
  

   vigor. 
  Were 
  it 
  not 
  for 
  this, 
  long 
  ere 
  now 
  these 
  grasshoppers 
  would, 
  from 
  their 
  enor- 
  

   mous 
  numbers, 
  have 
  desolated 
  the 
  whole 
  country 
  as 
  far 
  east 
  as 
  the 
  Atlantic. 
  — 
  Prof. 
  

   Samuel 
  Aughey, 
  of 
  the 
  University 
  of 
  Nebraska, 
  in 
  the 
  Lincoln 
  (Nebr.) 
  Journal. 
  

  

  I 
  have 
  observed 
  hundreds 
  of 
  winged 
  locusts 
  fall 
  to 
  the 
  ground 
  during 
  flight, 
  either 
  

   already 
  dead 
  or 
  soon 
  dying. 
  These, 
  upon 
  examination, 
  have 
  generally 
  proved 
  to 
  con- 
  

   tain 
  no 
  parasites, 
  and 
  I 
  judge 
  that 
  their 
  death 
  was 
  in 
  consequence 
  of 
  impaired 
  strength 
  ;. 
  

   this 
  second 
  generation, 
  raised 
  in 
  an 
  unnatural 
  climate, 
  not 
  equaling 
  in 
  vitality 
  the 
  

   first 
  generations, 
  and 
  succumbing 
  to 
  the 
  fatigue 
  consequent 
  upon 
  extended 
  flight. 
  — 
  

   Prof. 
  F. 
  H. 
  Snow, 
  of 
  Kansas 
  State 
  University, 
  in 
  Observer 
  of 
  Nature. 
  

  

  This 
  view 
  is 
  also 
  held 
  by 
  Mr. 
  Whitman, 
  of 
  Miunesota. 
  

  

  Mr. 
  Eiley 
  states 
  that 
  iu 
  Missouri 
  "the 
  specimeus 
  which 
  hatched 
  in 
  

   aud 
  left 
  our 
  western 
  counties 
  last 
  spring 
  were, 
  on 
  an 
  average, 
  somewhat 
  

   darker 
  and 
  smaller 
  than 
  their 
  parents." 
  It 
  thus 
  appears 
  that 
  the 
  Rocky 
  

   Mountain 
  locust 
  is 
  affected 
  like 
  most 
  other 
  animals 
  or 
  plants 
  when 
  re- 
  

   moved 
  from 
  their 
  proper 
  geographical 
  limits; 
  but 
  a 
  few 
  insects, 
  such 
  as 
  

   the 
  Colorado 
  potato-beetle, 
  &c., 
  being 
  able 
  to 
  withstand 
  a 
  change 
  of 
  

   climate. 
  As 
  will 
  be 
  seen 
  below, 
  a 
  variety 
  of 
  spretus 
  head 
  is 
  found 
  in 
  

   I^orthern 
  New 
  England, 
  Illinois, 
  aud 
  the 
  Paciiic 
  coast. 
  Though 
  born 
  and 
  

   bred 
  outside 
  of 
  the 
  dry 
  and 
  elevated 
  Rocky 
  Mountain 
  plains, 
  are 
  dwarfed 
  

   and 
  prevented 
  by 
  moisture 
  and 
  various 
  natural 
  causes, 
  such 
  as 
  the 
  

   presence 
  of 
  forests, 
  &c., 
  from 
  increasing 
  in 
  large 
  numbers 
  and 
  migrat- 
  

   ing. 
  These 
  dwarfed 
  individuals 
  are 
  a 
  climatic 
  variety 
  of 
  C. 
  spretus, 
  which 
  

   has 
  been 
  named 
  aflanis 
  by 
  Mr. 
  Riley, 
  who, 
  however, 
  believes 
  that 
  it 
  is 
  

   a 
  truly 
  distinct 
  species 
  from 
  C. 
  spretus. 
  But 
  from 
  a 
  careful 
  study 
  of 
  

   the 
  geographical 
  variations 
  of 
  a 
  number 
  of 
  moths 
  common 
  to 
  the 
  Atlantic 
  

   and 
  Pacific 
  States 
  as 
  well 
  as 
  the 
  Rockv 
  Mountain 
  region, 
  I 
  have 
  found 
  

   that 
  Rocky 
  Mountain 
  and 
  usually 
  Pacific 
  coast 
  specimens 
  are 
  larger 
  and 
  

   with 
  longer 
  wings 
  than 
  eastern 
  examples. 
  

  

  (See 
  my 
  monograph 
  of 
  Fhakenidce, 
  Hayden's 
  United 
  States 
  Geologi- 
  

   cal 
  Survey, 
  p. 
  584, 
  589.) 
  

  

  It 
  appears 
  that 
  the 
  var. 
  atlanis 
  collected 
  in 
  Illinois 
  was 
  first 
  exam- 
  

   ined 
  by 
  Mr. 
  Uhler 
  and 
  named 
  G. 
  spretus, 
  but 
  as 
  Mr. 
  Thomas's 
  specimens 
  

   of 
  spretus 
  came 
  from 
  the 
  locust-area 
  of 
  the 
  plains, 
  and 
  his 
  description 
  

   applies 
  to 
  the 
  genuine 
  spretus, 
  his 
  name 
  should 
  be 
  regarded 
  as 
  the 
  

   authority 
  rather 
  than 
  Mr. 
  Uhler, 
  whose 
  name 
  was 
  not 
  accompanied 
  by 
  

   a 
  description, 
  so 
  far 
  as 
  I 
  am 
  aware. 
  

  

  "It 
  is 
  somewhat 
  strange," 
  says 
  Prof. 
  C. 
  Thomas, 
  in 
  the 
  zoology 
  of 
  

   Lieutenant 
  Wheeler's 
  Survey, 
  p". 
  892, 
  "that 
  the 
  first 
  specimen 
  ever 
  

   examined 
  and 
  named 
  should 
  have 
  been 
  found 
  in 
  Southern 
  Illinois 
  by 
  

   the 
  writer 
  and 
  sent 
  to 
  Professor 
  Uhler, 
  of 
  Baltimore, 
  about 
  the 
  year 
  

   1860, 
  though 
  previous 
  to 
  that 
  time 
  various 
  scientific 
  expeditions 
  had 
  

   penetrated 
  the 
  western 
  plaius; 
  yet 
  it 
  is 
  but 
  seldom 
  seen 
  in 
  the 
  section 
  

   where 
  that 
  specimen 
  was 
  obtained." 
  It 
  is 
  not 
  impossible 
  that 
  the 
  few 
  

   specimens 
  of 
  C, 
  spretus 
  said 
  to 
  have 
  been 
  seen 
  east 
  of 
  the 
  Mississippi 
  

   have 
  flown 
  over 
  from 
  the 
  eastern 
  limits 
  of 
  the 
  locust-area 
  in 
  Minnesot^v 
  

   Iowa, 
  or 
  i^ebraska, 
  and 
  that 
  it 
  is 
  not 
  a 
  permanent 
  resident, 
  just 
  as 
  the 
  

   Asiatic 
  migratory 
  locust 
  occurs 
  temporarily 
  in 
  England 
  and 
  Sweden. 
  

   The 
  variety 
  called 
  by 
  Mr. 
  Riley 
  C. 
  atlanis 
  is, 
  however, 
  common 
  in 
  Illi- 
  

   nois, 
  and 
  extends 
  west 
  to 
  central 
  Missouri. 
  This 
  is 
  a 
  smaller 
  form, 
  with 
  

   shorter 
  wings, 
  and 
  markings 
  more 
  like 
  the 
  eastern 
  locust, 
  but 
  differing 
  

   decidedly 
  in 
  the 
  notched 
  end 
  of 
  the 
  hind 
  body 
  of 
  the 
  male. 
  There 
  is 
  

  

  