﻿684 
  KEPORT 
  UNITED 
  STATES 
  GEOLOGICAL 
  SURVEY. 
  

  

  The 
  Eastern 
  Red-Legged 
  Locust, 
  Acrydium 
  femur-rulrum 
  De 
  Geer; 
  Caloptenua 
  

   femur-ruhrum 
  White 
  (Plate 
  LXII, 
  Fig. 
  5 
  J).— 
  A 
  medium-sized 
  grasshopper, 
  the 
  male 
  dif- 
  

   ferii]g 
  chiefly 
  from 
  the 
  male 
  spretus 
  in 
  the 
  end 
  of 
  the 
  abdomen 
  not 
  being 
  notched, 
  

   but 
  rounded 
  and 
  much 
  blunter 
  ; 
  ranging 
  from 
  Labrador 
  and 
  Canada 
  to 
  the 
  Pacific 
  

   Coast, 
  including 
  the 
  border 
  States 
  and 
  the 
  Mississippi 
  Valley, 
  not 
  extending 
  south 
  of 
  

   latitude 
  35°, 
  occasionally 
  in 
  dry 
  seasons 
  becoming 
  very 
  destructive 
  and 
  gathering 
  iu 
  

   local 
  swarms, 
  but 
  not 
  commonly 
  migrating 
  far 
  from 
  its 
  breeding-place. 
  

  

  All 
  that 
  has 
  been 
  published 
  in 
  regard 
  to 
  the 
  breeding-habits 
  of 
  the 
  

   eastern 
  red-legged 
  locust 
  is 
  the 
  following 
  passage 
  in 
  Harris's 
  Treatise 
  

   on 
  the 
  Injurious 
  Insects 
  of 
  Massachusetts 
  : 
  " 
  It 
  comes 
  to 
  maturity 
  with 
  

   us 
  by 
  the 
  latter 
  part 
  of 
  July 
  ; 
  some 
  broods, 
  however, 
  a 
  little 
  earlier, 
  

   and 
  others 
  later. 
  It 
  is 
  most 
  plentiful 
  and 
  destructive 
  during 
  the 
  months 
  

   of 
  August 
  and 
  September, 
  and 
  does 
  not 
  disappear 
  till 
  some 
  time 
  in 
  

   October." 
  Of 
  the 
  larva 
  and 
  its 
  habits 
  we 
  have 
  nothing 
  on 
  record, 
  but 
  

   it 
  is 
  probable 
  that 
  it 
  hatches 
  late 
  in 
  May 
  and 
  early 
  in 
  June, 
  and" 
  as 
  the 
  

   latitude 
  varies 
  becomes 
  winged 
  in 
  seven 
  or 
  eight 
  weeks 
  or 
  sooner. 
  I 
  

   have 
  observed 
  the 
  locusts 
  copulating 
  and 
  laying 
  their 
  eggs 
  at 
  Amherst, 
  

   Mass., 
  during 
  the 
  middle 
  and 
  last 
  of 
  September, 
  after 
  the 
  first 
  frosts, 
  

   and 
  they 
  continue 
  doiug 
  so 
  into 
  October.. 
  While 
  they 
  oviposit 
  in 
  the 
  

   soil 
  of 
  upland 
  meadows 
  and 
  hay-fields, 
  they 
  are 
  more 
  commonly 
  seen 
  in 
  

   hard 
  gravelly 
  paths 
  in 
  company 
  with 
  (Edipoda, 
  Sordida, 
  and 
  Carolina, 
  

   and 
  other 
  grasshoppers. 
  Having 
  put 
  a 
  few 
  into 
  a 
  glass 
  jar 
  partly 
  filled 
  

   with 
  dirt 
  I 
  was 
  able 
  to 
  observe 
  the 
  process. 
  

  

  I 
  placed 
  several 
  C. 
  femur-ruhrum 
  under 
  glass 
  in 
  a 
  vessel 
  filled 
  with 
  

   gravelly 
  soil. 
  The 
  insect 
  in 
  boring 
  into 
  the 
  ground 
  brings 
  the 
  end 
  of 
  

   its 
  abdomen 
  forward 
  so 
  as 
  to 
  be 
  nearly 
  perpendicular 
  to 
  the 
  rest 
  of 
  the 
  

   body. 
  The 
  end 
  of 
  the 
  abdomen, 
  armed 
  with 
  its 
  stout 
  spines, 
  is 
  then 
  

   slowly 
  thrust 
  down, 
  not 
  being 
  retracted 
  during 
  the 
  operation 
  unless 
  the 
  

   insect 
  is 
  disturbed. 
  The 
  hole 
  thus 
  made 
  is 
  not 
  over 
  an 
  inch 
  deep 
  and 
  

   about 
  one-fifth 
  of 
  an 
  inch 
  in 
  diameter. 
  Plate 
  LXIV, 
  Fig. 
  4, 
  represents 
  

   this 
  species 
  after 
  the 
  hole 
  has 
  been 
  made. 
  The 
  size 
  and 
  form 
  of 
  the 
  

   egg-sac 
  and 
  eggs 
  is 
  shown 
  on 
  the 
  right 
  of 
  the 
  figure. 
  It 
  is 
  15 
  milli- 
  

   meters 
  long 
  and 
  5 
  millimeters 
  in 
  diameter, 
  the 
  eggs 
  being 
  shown 
  

   through 
  the 
  thin 
  wall 
  of 
  the 
  sac, 
  which 
  in 
  those 
  1 
  have 
  seen 
  is 
  thinner 
  

   and 
  lighter 
  than 
  in 
  G. 
  spretus, 
  the 
  amount 
  of 
  the 
  spongy 
  substance 
  se- 
  

   creted 
  by 
  the 
  insect 
  being 
  perhaps 
  less. 
  I 
  have 
  ventured 
  to 
  represent 
  

   a 
  mass 
  of 
  this 
  glutinous 
  matter 
  coming 
  from 
  the 
  body 
  of 
  the 
  female. 
  It 
  i| 
  

   possible 
  that 
  the 
  drawing 
  (made 
  by 
  Mr, 
  Emerton, 
  from 
  a 
  sketch 
  made 
  by 
  

   myself 
  from 
  life) 
  is 
  incorrect 
  in 
  this 
  particular. 
  The 
  spongy 
  glutinous 
  

   substance 
  (probably 
  a 
  modified 
  silky 
  secretion) 
  may 
  be 
  deposited 
  in 
  

   part 
  at 
  first 
  and 
  the 
  eggs 
  arranged 
  in 
  it, 
  passing 
  out 
  of 
  the 
  end 
  of 
  the 
  

   oviduct 
  singly.* 
  The 
  cockroach 
  ejects 
  her 
  eggs 
  all 
  at 
  once 
  and 
  con- 
  

   tained 
  in 
  a 
  sac. 
  In 
  the 
  egg-sacs 
  which 
  I 
  observed 
  the 
  eggs 
  were 
  not 
  

   arranged 
  so 
  regularly 
  as 
  in 
  those 
  of 
  the 
  Eocky 
  Mountain 
  locust. 
  During 
  

   the 
  process 
  the 
  abdomen 
  is 
  nearly 
  half 
  longer 
  than 
  usual 
  and 
  greatly 
  

   distended. 
  The 
  eggs 
  are 
  curved 
  cylindrical, 
  of 
  the 
  same 
  form 
  as 
  in 
  C. 
  

   spretus, 
  but 
  considerably 
  smaller, 
  being 
  4 
  millimeters 
  in 
  length. 
  The 
  

   chorian 
  is 
  pitted 
  in 
  the 
  same 
  manner, 
  and 
  there 
  is 
  a 
  similar 
  constriction 
  

   at 
  the 
  posterior 
  end. 
  

  

  In 
  (Edipoda 
  sordida 
  the 
  egg-mass 
  is 
  14 
  millimeters 
  long 
  and 
  5 
  mil 
  

   meters 
  in 
  "diameter. 
  The 
  eggs 
  are 
  of 
  the 
  usual 
  size 
  and 
  5 
  millimeters 
  

   in 
  length. 
  

  

  From 
  Mr. 
  S. 
  J. 
  Smith's 
  description 
  (Proceedings 
  of 
  the 
  Portland 
  

   Society 
  of 
  ifatural 
  History) 
  of 
  the 
  mode 
  of 
  oviposition 
  in 
  Choealtis 
  con 
  

  

  * 
  Mr. 
  W. 
  S. 
  Dallas 
  thinks 
  that 
  the 
  glutinous 
  mass 
  is 
  first 
  produced 
  by 
  the 
  insect, 
  and 
  

   the 
  eggs 
  afterward 
  laid 
  in 
  it. 
  (Zoological 
  Record 
  for 
  1867.) 
  Further 
  observations 
  are 
  

   necessary 
  to 
  determine 
  this 
  point; 
  they 
  can 
  (p. 
  4C0) 
  easily 
  be 
  made, 
  however. 
  

  

  