ORrHOPTERA OF NOVA SCOTIA. — PIERS. 213 



certainly have been ultimately destroyed, and the loose 

 arenaceous deposit would then have drifted continually at 

 the mercy of the prevailing southwesterly wind. In such 

 a case, if this condition were not artificially checkel, the island 

 would in a comparatively few years have shifted eastward 

 and become lower very much more rapidly than under 

 normal conditions, and it would thus have ultimately gone 

 beneath the sea-level, forming sandbars of tenfold greater 

 menace to shipping than even the island is now. 



The Red-legged Locust (M. ruhrum-femur) , existing every- 

 where in our pastures in vast numbers, must also do thousands 

 of dollars' worth of damage yearly in the province; and the 

 Yellow-striped Locust (M. bivittatus) no doubt produces 

 considerable injury, as also the small Striped Ground-cricket 

 (A'', fasciatus) which in myriads infests our pasture lands; 

 and its larger relative the Pennsylvanian Field-cricket 

 (G. pennsylvanicus) . The Clear-winged Locust (C. pellu- 

 cida) is a pest in parts of the western counties, where in some 

 seasons at least it is very abundant and harmful. Such 

 species as frequent uncultivated lands and devour waste 

 vegetation, may of course be considered as not of much 

 economic importance, as their great voracity does not directly 

 affect man to any noticeable extent. Cockroaches are 

 serious pests in come city dwellings, bakeries and store- 

 houses, but are very seldom if ever seen about cottages in 

 the rural districts. 



Methods of control. — The eggs of the Short-horned Locusts 

 or Acrididce, which (with the exception of the Grouse-locusts) 

 are laid in the ground late in the season and remain dormant 

 until the following spring, may be killed by plowing 

 the land in the autumn after the period of oviposition, so 

 as to expose the eggs to the full effects of frost, etc. Poisoned 

 bait may also be spread over the fields, as more fully described 

 under Melanoplus femur-ruhrum. Probably one of the 

 . very best and easiest methods is, when possible, to keep a. 



