APPENDIX V. — GAUMER'S KANSAS REPORT. [87] 



locusts were liatcbing in prodigious numbers all over the country, but that every rain 

 destroyed all that were out previous to its fall. 



At Thayer, May 25, I found locusts quite abundant, especially west of the town. 

 They were all small and quiet, for the day was cool and cloudy. I opened the crops 

 of four prairie chickens and six field plovers, and found them well filled with young 

 locusts. Two maggots of the Autliomyia egg parasite were found in a batch of eggs 

 east of the town. No other enemies were observed. 



May 26, very few locusts were to be found in the vicinify of Cherryvale, and few 

 had passed the second molt and were nearly ready for the third. They were very 

 much scattered; only one now and then could be found. On account of the continued 

 coolness of the weather, there may have been more locusts than could readily be seen. 

 The farmers informed me that the locusts had hatched early in the season, and that they 

 had all disappeared. They believed that they would all* go the same way, hence did 

 nothing to destroy them. 



At Cofieyville, May 28, 1 visited many farms, and found the locusts very scarce, and 

 larger than at any other place. They varied much in size ; some were quite young, while 

 many had passed the fourth molt. I saw two gardens which had been comxdetely 

 eaten out by them, and a few others injured to some extent. A field of wheat two 

 miles south was stripped of its blades, but the grain was so near ripe that it was little, 

 if at all, injured. The eggs were all hatched, and although many had been deposited, 

 yet few insects remained. 



I traveled from Coffeyville to Independence in a buggy, stopping many times to 

 look for eggs, but failed to find any. Few locusts were to be found. Nowhere be- 

 tween the two towns had any crops been injured. The locusts did not travel as they 

 are accustomed to do, but rather remained, like the native species, in the locality 

 where hatched. I did not find a single colony during the summer which showed any 

 migratory tendencies. 



May 30,1 made a tour through the eastern portions of Elk and Chautauqua Counties. 

 Found two fields of wheat which were badly injured by them, and one field of corn, 

 with now and then a garden or '' truck patch." No large colonies were seen during the 

 day. Now and then, small scattered swarms of half -grown insects were to be seen, 

 mo'stly feeding upon wild weeds. Near Radical City I saw a farmer plowing a field, 

 which had been turned very deep in October, 1876, for the purpose of destroying the 

 eggs. These eggs had hatched, and the young insects, unable to make their way up 

 through the solid ground, had perished in the attempt. The bottoms of the old fur- 

 rows were frequently covered with their dead bodies. No locusts of any consequence 

 were seen in the vicinity of Independence. A small colony was found in the north- 

 eastern portion of the city. Another, near Table Mound, was hatched in a corn-field, 

 and took about hali of the crop when it first came up. 



At 1 p. m., June 16, the first winged locusts were seen flying over the "Wakarusa. 

 They were very high in the air. The wind at the time was blowing at the rate of 

 about fifteen miles per hour, from a direction a little east of south, and the locusts 

 were flying with the wind. The sky was nearly clear, and weather warm. 



June 18, they again began to fly, at 11.45 a. m. The wind was south-southwest, and 

 blowing at the rate of about forty miles per hour. They increased in numbers until 

 2.35 p. m., when there were a great many flying, as high as could be seen with the 

 naked eye. At 3.30 many of them were quite low, and a few were seen to drop down, 

 and they continued to fall until 4.30 p. m. At 5 p. m. they ceased to fly, and there 

 was about one locust to every square rod. They flew very swiftly, and in a north- 

 northeast direction. 



June 19, I again visited the country round about Chanute. Found the locusts had 

 nearly all disappeared. Those which had hatched previous to my first visit had all 

 died in a few days afterward. The eggs were not all hatched, for in front of Mr. 

 Ashby's house we dug up good eggs which had been deposited in a hard, sandy soil, 

 and were overlaid with a deposit of sand about one inch deep, from an adjoining field. 

 Most of them were spoiled. 



At Parsons, June 20, 1 found the locusts molting the last time, and many of them 

 already had their wings. Some were flying, but not in any considerable numbers. 

 Few had come to maturity. At Chetopa they nearly all had wings, and had been 

 leaving for two days. Several large swarms were seen feeding upon dog-fennel, but 

 nowhere did they injure the corn or wheat. Nearly all the gardens in the eastern por- 

 tion of the city were eaten up. 



Locusts were observed flying over Lawrence in a northerly and northwesterly direc- 

 tion every clear day until July 10. 



July 12 and 13, I observed them flying over Las Animas, Colo. 



July 16, they were again seen flying over Napieste, Colo., and again, July 19, at 

 Granada, Col. 



Only a few specimens of C. sprctus were found upon the ground in Colorado. A few 

 locusts dropped down on Wakarusa from time to time. The largest number came 



