﻿PACKARD.] 
  PARASITES 
  OF 
  THE 
  LOCUST. 
  663 
  

  

  Mr. 
  Eiley, 
  taken 
  from 
  G. 
  sprctus 
  in 
  Missouri. 
  Eegardiug 
  the 
  frequency 
  

   of 
  its 
  occurrence 
  in 
  G. 
  spretus, 
  Mr. 
  Whitman 
  writes, 
  under 
  date 
  of 
  Sep- 
  

   tember 
  19,1876: 
  "I 
  have 
  opened 
  six 
  hundred 
  and 
  twenty- 
  four 
  hoppers 
  

   {spretus) 
  ; 
  nine 
  of 
  these 
  contained 
  grubs 
  (of 
  the 
  Tachina 
  fly 
  probably) 
  and 
  

   ten 
  had 
  hair-worms. 
  I 
  do 
  not 
  know 
  that 
  the 
  latter 
  has 
  ever 
  been 
  noticed 
  

   in 
  hoppers 
  in 
  this 
  State 
  before 
  this 
  year 
  ; 
  at 
  any 
  rate, 
  it 
  has 
  been 
  so 
  rarely 
  

   mentioned 
  that 
  I 
  never 
  heard 
  of 
  it 
  here. 
  I 
  ought 
  to 
  say 
  in 
  regard 
  to 
  the 
  

   six 
  hundred 
  and 
  twenty-four 
  grasshoppers 
  above 
  mentioned 
  that 
  they 
  

   were 
  probably 
  some 
  of 
  a 
  band 
  of 
  outsiders 
  that 
  have 
  come 
  into 
  the 
  State 
  

   within 
  a 
  few 
  weeks. 
  Almost 
  every 
  female 
  had 
  eggs 
  about 
  ready 
  to 
  be 
  

   laid," 
  The 
  specimen 
  of 
  Gordius 
  received 
  from 
  Mr. 
  Whitman 
  was 
  filled 
  

   with 
  eggs. 
  

  

  I 
  will 
  here 
  give 
  a 
  resume 
  of 
  our 
  entire 
  knowledge 
  of 
  the 
  hair-worm, 
  

   both 
  because 
  the 
  worm 
  is 
  well 
  known 
  to 
  the 
  public, 
  being 
  sometimes 
  

   thought 
  by 
  the 
  ignorant 
  to 
  be 
  actually 
  a 
  transformed 
  horse-hair, 
  and 
  

   because 
  it 
  'is 
  prevalent 
  in 
  the 
  bodies 
  of 
  grasshoppers, 
  and 
  has 
  an 
  ex- 
  

   tremely 
  interesting 
  history. 
  

  

  The 
  first 
  notice 
  of 
  the 
  hair-worm 
  in 
  this 
  country 
  by 
  a 
  naturalist 
  is, 
  so 
  

   far 
  as 
  I 
  am 
  aware, 
  contained 
  in 
  " 
  The 
  Natural 
  History 
  of 
  Vermont," 
  by 
  

   Zadock 
  Thompson. 
  The 
  following 
  account 
  is 
  quoted 
  at 
  secondhand 
  

   from 
  Charles 
  Girard's 
  " 
  Historical 
  Sketch 
  of 
  Gordiacew 
  : 
  " 
  * 
  

  

  The 
  little 
  animal 
  called 
  the 
  liair-sno.lce 
  also 
  heloags 
  to 
  this 
  order 
  (Annulata), 
  and 
  to 
  

   the 
  genus 
  Gordius. 
  These 
  are 
  very 
  common 
  in 
  the 
  still 
  waters 
  and 
  mud 
  in 
  all 
  parts 
  of 
  

   the 
  State. 
  They 
  are 
  usually 
  about 
  the 
  size 
  of 
  a 
  large 
  horse-hair, 
  and 
  are 
  from 
  1 
  to 
  6 
  

   or 
  8 
  inches 
  in 
  length. 
  In 
  color, 
  they 
  vary 
  from 
  pure 
  white 
  to 
  nearly 
  black, 
  and 
  hence 
  

   we 
  probably 
  have 
  several 
  species. 
  The 
  vulgar 
  notion 
  that 
  they 
  originate 
  from 
  hairs 
  

   which 
  fall 
  from 
  horses 
  and 
  cattle 
  and 
  become 
  animated 
  in 
  the 
  water 
  would 
  seem 
  to 
  

   be 
  too 
  absurd 
  for 
  contradiction, 
  and 
  yet, 
  absurd 
  as 
  it 
  is, 
  people 
  are 
  to 
  be 
  found 
  who 
  

   believe 
  it. 
  

  

  Mr. 
  Girard 
  adds 
  : 
  

  

  The 
  same 
  popular 
  opinion 
  is 
  prevailing 
  in 
  Europe. 
  Gorclii 
  have 
  been 
  noticed 
  in 
  

   the 
  body 
  of 
  insects 
  ; 
  also, 
  by 
  an 
  American 
  entomologist, 
  Dr. 
  Th. 
  William 
  Hams, 
  who 
  

   says, 
  " 
  I 
  have 
  taken 
  three 
  or 
  four 
  of 
  these 
  animals 
  out 
  of 
  the 
  body 
  of 
  a 
  single 
  locust. 
  

   They 
  have 
  been 
  found 
  by 
  others 
  within 
  the 
  cricket 
  (Acheta 
  ablreviata). 
  

  

  We 
  saw 
  a 
  specimen 
  6 
  or 
  7 
  inches 
  in 
  length 
  caught 
  in 
  the 
  clear 
  waters 
  of 
  the 
  vicinity 
  

   of 
  Richmond, 
  Va. 
  Several 
  others 
  were 
  detected 
  by 
  Dr. 
  Leidy 
  in 
  the 
  neighborhood 
  of 
  

   Philadelphia. 
  Finally, 
  we 
  may 
  mention 
  several 
  specimens 
  of 
  Gordii 
  from 
  Oregon, 
  

   brought 
  home 
  by 
  the 
  United 
  States 
  Exploring 
  Expedition. 
  Gordii, 
  therefore, 
  are 
  

   spread 
  all 
  over 
  the 
  Western 
  Hemisphere. 
  

  

  The 
  mode 
  of 
  development 
  of 
  our 
  common 
  Gordius 
  varius 
  (Plate 
  LXIII, 
  

   rig. 
  6, 
  h), 
  has 
  been 
  studied 
  by 
  Dr. 
  Leidy.t 
  This 
  is 
  quite 
  a 
  different 
  

   species 
  from 
  Gordius 
  aquaticus, 
  the 
  end 
  of 
  the 
  body 
  of 
  the 
  female 
  being 
  

   trifurcated, 
  while 
  that 
  of 
  G. 
  aquaticus 
  is 
  blunt. 
  It 
  is 
  from 
  4 
  to 
  12 
  inches 
  

   in 
  length, 
  and 
  appears 
  to 
  be 
  much 
  slenderer 
  than 
  Gordius 
  aquaticus. 
  

   "The 
  G'or^ZntsiJflm^s," 
  says 
  Leidy, 
  "isproliflcinaveryremarkablfcdegree." 
  

   A 
  female 
  9 
  inches 
  in 
  length 
  placed 
  in 
  a 
  tumbler 
  of 
  water 
  extruded 
  a 
  

   string 
  of 
  ova 
  91 
  inches 
  in 
  length, 
  in 
  which 
  he 
  estimated 
  there 
  were 
  over 
  

   6,000,000 
  eggs. 
  Dr. 
  Leidy 
  saw 
  the 
  eggs 
  undergo 
  the 
  process 
  of 
  seg- 
  

   mentation. 
  On 
  the 
  third 
  day, 
  the 
  germ 
  appeared 
  as 
  an 
  " 
  oval, 
  finely- 
  

   granular 
  body," 
  and 
  by 
  the 
  tenth 
  day 
  the 
  embryo 
  was 
  conical 
  in 
  form, 
  

   with 
  a 
  cleft 
  or 
  fissure 
  which 
  extends 
  two-thirds 
  the 
  length 
  of 
  the 
  mass. 
  

   Upon 
  the 
  eleventh 
  day 
  it 
  resembled 
  a 
  cylinder 
  doubled 
  upon 
  itself, 
  and 
  

   the 
  tail-end 
  was 
  subacute. 
  

  

  From 
  the 
  nineteenth 
  to 
  the 
  twentieth 
  day 
  the 
  embryo 
  alternately 
  retracted 
  and 
  pro- 
  

   truded 
  the 
  tentacular 
  or 
  tilameutary 
  appendages, 
  and 
  the 
  integument 
  of 
  the 
  anterior 
  

  

  * 
  Proc. 
  of 
  the 
  Academy 
  of 
  Natural 
  Sciences, 
  Philadelphia, 
  v. 
  1850 
  and 
  1851, 
  p. 
  279. 
  

   tProc. 
  of 
  the 
  Academy 
  of 
  Natural 
  Sciences, 
  Philadelphia, 
  v. 
  98 
  and 
  262, 
  1850 
  and 
  1851. 
  

  

  