﻿PACKARD.] 
  THE 
  DESTRUCTIVE 
  LOCUST 
  OF 
  CALIFORNIA. 
  689 
  

  

  tating 
  nature 
  of 
  its 
  ravages, 
  may 
  be 
  called 
  (Edipoda 
  atrox, 
  or 
  the 
  terri- 
  

   ble 
  grasshopper. 
  To 
  the 
  best 
  of 
  my 
  knowledge, 
  it 
  is 
  the 
  only 
  species 
  of 
  

   the 
  genus 
  which 
  has 
  anywhere 
  proved 
  seriously 
  and 
  persistently 
  injuri- 
  

   ous 
  to 
  crops. 
  Several 
  species 
  of 
  the 
  closely-allied 
  genus 
  Pachytylus 
  

   have 
  ravaged 
  the 
  fields 
  of 
  Eastern 
  Europe 
  and 
  Asia; 
  and 
  it 
  is 
  interest- 
  

   ing, 
  in 
  a 
  zoological 
  point 
  of 
  view, 
  to 
  find 
  that 
  California, 
  whose 
  insect 
  

   fauna 
  bears 
  a 
  much 
  more 
  general 
  resemblance 
  to 
  the 
  peculiar 
  types 
  of 
  

   the 
  Old 
  World 
  than 
  to 
  those 
  characteristic 
  of 
  the 
  opposite 
  border 
  of 
  the 
  

   New 
  World, 
  should 
  in 
  this 
  case 
  also 
  harbor 
  a 
  devastating 
  grasshopper 
  so 
  

   much 
  more 
  nearly 
  allied 
  to 
  the 
  destructive 
  species 
  of 
  the 
  Mediterranean 
  

   than 
  to 
  those 
  found 
  upon 
  the 
  same 
  continent 
  with 
  itself. 
  

  

  Whether 
  the 
  (Edipoda 
  pellucida 
  (atrox) 
  or 
  Caloptenus 
  spretus 
  is 
  the 
  spe- 
  

   cies 
  which 
  has 
  proved 
  at 
  times 
  so 
  destructive 
  on 
  the 
  Pacific 
  coast 
  has 
  

   been 
  a 
  matter 
  of 
  some 
  uncertainty. 
  Mr. 
  Scudder 
  (Hayden's 
  Report 
  on 
  

   the 
  Geology 
  of 
  Nebraska, 
  1872) 
  believes 
  that 
  it 
  is 
  this 
  species, 
  while 
  Mr. 
  

   Thomas 
  (Monograph 
  of 
  Acrididce) 
  thinks 
  it 
  must 
  be 
  C. 
  spretus. 
  As 
  seen 
  

   in 
  the 
  previous 
  account 
  of 
  C. 
  spretus 
  in 
  California 
  by 
  Mr. 
  Henry 
  Edwards 
  

   (p. 
  ), 
  he 
  regards 
  that 
  locust 
  as 
  the 
  destructive 
  species. 
  Concerning 
  

   the 
  habits 
  of 
  (E. 
  pellucida 
  in 
  California, 
  he 
  writes 
  me 
  the 
  following 
  ex- 
  

   plicit 
  account 
  : 
  " 
  (Edipoda 
  {Camnula) 
  atrox. 
  This 
  species 
  is 
  very 
  abun- 
  

   dant 
  in 
  the 
  spring 
  and 
  early 
  summer, 
  but 
  at 
  present 
  (1876) 
  appears 
  to 
  be 
  

   somew^hat 
  limited 
  in 
  its 
  range 
  as 
  far 
  as 
  California 
  is 
  concerned. 
  It 
  is 
  

   found 
  only 
  in 
  our 
  foot-hills, 
  and 
  has 
  not, 
  to 
  my 
  knowledge 
  at 
  least, 
  been 
  

   regarded 
  as 
  a 
  very 
  destructive 
  insect. 
  I 
  never 
  saw 
  it 
  but 
  once 
  in 
  very 
  

   large 
  swarms, 
  and 
  it 
  then 
  appeared 
  to 
  attach 
  itself 
  more 
  to 
  the 
  pasture- 
  

   grasses 
  than 
  to 
  any 
  growing 
  crops, 
  although 
  there 
  were 
  plenty 
  of 
  fields 
  

   of 
  barley, 
  oats, 
  &c., 
  in 
  the 
  neighborhood. 
  It 
  appears 
  in 
  its 
  larval 
  con- 
  

   dition 
  in 
  April, 
  and 
  in 
  the 
  winged 
  state 
  in 
  May, 
  passing 
  entirely 
  out 
  

   of 
  existence 
  by 
  the 
  middle 
  of 
  June. 
  I 
  have 
  taken 
  it 
  sparingly 
  in 
  Ne- 
  

   vada 
  and 
  in 
  Vancouver's 
  Island, 
  and 
  have 
  seen 
  some 
  specimens 
  from 
  

   Santa 
  Eosa 
  Island, 
  but 
  I 
  am 
  pret^^y 
  sure 
  that 
  it 
  cannot 
  be 
  called 
  a 
  

   coQimon 
  insect 
  in 
  those 
  localities." 
  Regarding. 
  its 
  habits 
  and 
  distribu- 
  

   tion 
  in 
  the 
  East 
  I 
  quote 
  as 
  follows 
  from 
  Scudder's 
  Distribution 
  of 
  Insects 
  

   in 
  New 
  Hampshire 
  (Hitchcock's 
  Geology 
  of 
  New 
  Hampshire, 
  vol. 
  1): 
  

   " 
  This 
  insect 
  is 
  silent 
  in 
  flight, 
  and 
  is 
  a 
  northern 
  species, 
  swarming 
  in 
  

   immense 
  numbers 
  among 
  the 
  White 
  Mountains 
  and 
  on 
  the 
  dry 
  summits 
  

   of 
  the 
  country 
  south 
  of 
  it. 
  The 
  top 
  of 
  Mount 
  Prospect, 
  near 
  Plymouth, 
  

   was 
  covered 
  with 
  myriads 
  of 
  them 
  in 
  the 
  autumn 
  of 
  1873. 
  It 
  is 
  found, 
  

   however, 
  as 
  far 
  south 
  as 
  Connecticut 
  and 
  Southern 
  Illinois, 
  and 
  west 
  to 
  

   the 
  latter 
  region 
  and 
  Lake 
  Superior." 
  Thomas 
  states 
  that 
  he 
  has 
  found 
  

   it 
  in 
  Montana. 
  — 
  (Acrididce 
  of 
  North 
  America, 
  p. 
  137.) 
  

  

  Concerning 
  this 
  species. 
  Professor 
  Thomas 
  remarks 
  as 
  follows 
  in 
  Hay- 
  

   den's 
  Annual 
  Report 
  on 
  the 
  Geology 
  of 
  Montana 
  for 
  1871, 
  p. 
  458: 
  

   " 
  Those 
  who 
  live 
  in 
  the 
  East 
  and 
  have 
  not 
  seen 
  a 
  specimen 
  of 
  this 
  spe- 
  

   cies, 
  can 
  see 
  it 
  almost, 
  if 
  not 
  exactly, 
  represented 
  in 
  (E. 
  pellucida 
  of 
  

   Scudder 
  ; 
  in 
  fact, 
  Mr. 
  Scudder's 
  description 
  of 
  this 
  species 
  agrees 
  more 
  

   exactly, 
  if 
  possible, 
  with 
  specimens 
  from 
  California, 
  submitted 
  to 
  me 
  

   this 
  season, 
  than 
  his 
  description 
  of 
  atrox." 
  In 
  his 
  " 
  Synopsis 
  of 
  the 
  

   Acrididse 
  of 
  North 
  America," 
  Hayden's 
  Survey, 
  1873, 
  he 
  again 
  says 
  : 
  

   '' 
  I 
  give 
  this 
  species 
  as 
  distinct 
  from 
  (E. 
  pellucida 
  on 
  the 
  authority 
  of 
  

   Dr. 
  Scudder, 
  but 
  I 
  consider 
  the 
  two 
  as 
  identical, 
  the 
  only 
  difference 
  

   that 
  I 
  can 
  see 
  being 
  that 
  the 
  median 
  carina 
  of 
  atrox 
  is 
  severed, 
  while 
  

   t\i'eit 
  of 
  pellucida 
  is 
  continuous.. 
  The 
  coloration 
  shows 
  less 
  difference 
  

   than 
  is 
  often 
  observed 
  between 
  different 
  specimens 
  of 
  the 
  same 
  species 
  

   from 
  the 
  same 
  locality. 
  In 
  fact, 
  my 
  specimens 
  of 
  atrox 
  agree 
  more 
  

   44 
  G 
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