﻿RAVAGES 
  OF 
  THE 
  WESTERN 
  CRICKET. 
  165 
  

  

  the 
  road 
  towards 
  the 
  northwest 
  in 
  one 
  continuous 
  stream 
  ISO 
  to 
  200 
  yards 
  wide, 
  and 
  

   literally 
  covering 
  the 
  earth. 
  The 
  length 
  of 
  the 
  army 
  was 
  not 
  ascertained, 
  but 
  it 
  was 
  

   much 
  greater 
  than 
  the 
  width, 
  not 
  less, 
  at 
  least, 
  than 
  a 
  half 
  a 
  mile. 
  The 
  ground 
  was 
  

   so 
  thickly 
  covered 
  that 
  the 
  horses 
  could 
  not 
  walk 
  without 
  crushing 
  numbers 
  at 
  every 
  

   step. 
  Large 
  hawks 
  were 
  numerous, 
  feasting 
  on 
  them. 
  

  

  The 
  ravages 
  occasionally 
  committed 
  by 
  the 
  Anabrus 
  in 
  its 
  wholesale 
  

   descent 
  upon 
  the 
  cultivated 
  lowlands 
  is 
  very 
  great. 
  The 
  most 
  aggra- 
  

   vated 
  case 
  brought 
  to 
  our 
  notice 
  occurred 
  in 
  Northern 
  Nevada. 
  Ac- 
  

   cording 
  to 
  my 
  informant, 
  Mr. 
  C. 
  0. 
  Wheeler, 
  of 
  Cornucopia, 
  Nev., 
  in 
  the 
  

   summer 
  of 
  1876 
  crickets 
  devoured 
  about 
  $3,000 
  worth 
  of 
  wheat 
  and 
  

   other 
  grain. 
  As 
  the 
  cultivated 
  areas 
  in 
  Nevada 
  are 
  small, 
  the 
  attacks 
  of 
  

   the 
  cricket, 
  which 
  are 
  liable 
  to 
  be 
  repeated 
  annually, 
  are 
  much 
  dreaded. 
  

   Mr. 
  Wheeler 
  observed 
  that 
  the 
  cricket 
  was 
  very 
  destructive 
  in 
  the 
  north- 
  

   ern 
  parts 
  of 
  the 
  Territory. 
  In 
  August, 
  1878, 
  crickets 
  were 
  very 
  thick 
  

   between 
  Elko 
  and 
  Humboldt, 
  Nev., 
  filling 
  the 
  wells 
  and 
  spoiling 
  the 
  

   water 
  so 
  that 
  the 
  people 
  had 
  to 
  use 
  brook 
  water. 
  

  

  In 
  Oregon, 
  east 
  of 
  the 
  Cascade 
  Mountains, 
  where 
  the 
  country 
  is 
  dry 
  

   and 
  hot, 
  with 
  a 
  climate 
  and 
  soil 
  much 
  like 
  that 
  of 
  Nevada 
  and 
  Central 
  

   Utah, 
  the 
  cricket 
  often 
  proves 
  very 
  annoying 
  to 
  the 
  farmers. 
  The 
  fol- 
  

   lowing 
  statements 
  by 
  Mr. 
  Henry 
  Edwards, 
  formerly 
  of 
  San 
  Francisco, 
  

   is 
  taken 
  from 
  a 
  brief 
  account 
  of 
  this 
  insect 
  from 
  Hayden's 
  Ninth 
  Eeport 
  

   of 
  the 
  United 
  States 
  Geological 
  Survey 
  of 
  the 
  Territories. 
  209 
  

  

  The 
  large 
  brown 
  cricket 
  (probably 
  Anabrus 
  simplex) 
  is 
  a 
  great 
  trouble 
  to 
  the 
  farmers 
  

   of 
  this 
  region 
  (the 
  Dalles), 
  and 
  this 
  year 
  [1873?] 
  has 
  been 
  unusually 
  common. 
  It 
  ap- 
  

   pears 
  that 
  they 
  march 
  to 
  attack 
  the 
  corn-fields 
  in 
  columns, 
  and 
  the 
  only 
  way 
  left 
  to 
  

   the 
  farmers 
  to 
  protect 
  themselves 
  is 
  to 
  dig 
  trenches 
  around 
  their 
  fields, 
  into 
  which 
  the 
  

   crickets 
  fall 
  in 
  enormous 
  crowds 
  and 
  are 
  killed 
  by 
  their 
  own 
  numbers. 
  The 
  upper 
  

   individuals, 
  however, 
  manage 
  to 
  make 
  a 
  bridge 
  of 
  the 
  bodies 
  of 
  their 
  companions, 
  and 
  

   sometimes 
  cross 
  the 
  ditches 
  in 
  great 
  quantities. 
  Pigs 
  eat 
  these 
  insects 
  very 
  greedily. 
  

   They 
  seem 
  to 
  be 
  periodical 
  in 
  their 
  appearance, 
  the 
  great 
  swarms 
  only 
  occurring 
  oncfe 
  

   in 
  six 
  years. 
  I 
  think 
  their 
  depredations 
  are 
  mostly 
  committed 
  in 
  the 
  night, 
  as 
  I 
  saw 
  

   none 
  during 
  the 
  heat 
  of 
  the 
  day, 
  but 
  toward 
  twilight 
  they 
  swarmed 
  on 
  the 
  stems 
  of 
  

   arteraisia 
  and 
  other 
  low 
  plants, 
  and 
  were 
  exceedingly 
  active. 
  

  

  While 
  the 
  cricket 
  is 
  annoying 
  in 
  Arizona 
  according 
  to 
  information 
  

   received 
  from 
  Maj. 
  J. 
  W. 
  Powell, 
  it 
  is 
  particularly 
  destructive 
  in 
  Utah, 
  

   both 
  in 
  the 
  scattered 
  oases 
  or 
  farming 
  hamlets 
  and 
  villages 
  of 
  the 
  south- 
  

   ern 
  and 
  central 
  portions, 
  as 
  well 
  as 
  in 
  the 
  more 
  fertile 
  valley 
  of 
  the 
  

   Great 
  Salt 
  Lake, 
  and 
  in 
  Cache 
  and 
  Malade 
  Valley 
  northward 
  on 
  the 
  

   borders 
  of 
  Idaho. 
  About 
  Payson, 
  Utah, 
  the 
  cricket 
  has 
  been 
  " 
  exceed- 
  

   ingly 
  destructive." 
  Mr. 
  B. 
  F. 
  Johnson, 
  of 
  Spring 
  Lake, 
  states 
  that 
  in 
  

   1865, 
  when 
  the 
  Eocky 
  Mountain 
  locust 
  devastated 
  that 
  section 
  of 
  Utah, 
  

   " 
  large 
  crickets 
  made 
  their 
  appearance, 
  not 
  only 
  in 
  this, 
  but 
  in 
  the 
  sur- 
  

   rounding 
  settlements, 
  in 
  great 
  numbers, 
  and 
  helped 
  the 
  destructive 
  

   moppers 
  to 
  devour 
  the 
  crops. 
  1 
  ' 
  

  

  The 
  cricket 
  was 
  more 
  abundant 
  formerly 
  in 
  Utah 
  than 
  of 
  late 
  years 
  j 
  

   they 
  then 
  moved 
  in 
  armies 
  which 
  could 
  not 
  be 
  turned 
  back 
  in 
  their 
  re- 
  

  

  209 
  Eeport 
  on 
  the 
  Rocky 
  Mountain 
  locust 
  and 
  other 
  insects 
  now 
  injuring 
  or 
  likely 
  to 
  injure 
  field 
  and 
  

   garden 
  crops 
  in 
  the 
  Western 
  States 
  and 
  Territories. 
  By 
  A. 
  S. 
  Packard, 
  jr., 
  1877. 
  8°. 
  pp. 
  589-815. 
  

  

  