﻿LOCUST 
  RAVAGES 
  IN 
  CALIFORNIA. 
  251 
  

  

  LOCUST 
  ENEMIES. 
  

  

  First 
  in 
  importance, 
  though 
  silent 
  and 
  unseen, 
  are 
  insects 
  of 
  its 
  own 
  great 
  class. 
  

   They 
  prey 
  upon 
  it 
  from 
  the 
  egg 
  to 
  the 
  adult, 
  while 
  roosting 
  at 
  night 
  or 
  Hying 
  by 
  day. 
  

   It 
  is 
  a 
  law 
  of 
  nature 
  that 
  every 
  animal 
  meets 
  with 
  check. 
  A 
  particular 
  plant-feeder 
  

   may 
  swarm 
  to 
  an 
  alarming 
  extent 
  one 
  year, 
  and 
  he 
  unheard 
  of 
  the 
  next, 
  being 
  checked, 
  

   perhaps, 
  by 
  an 
  unseen 
  foe. 
  The 
  Locust 
  Commission 
  referred 
  to, 
  report, 
  describe, 
  and 
  

   illustrate 
  a 
  host 
  of 
  insects, 
  including 
  minute 
  mites, 
  no 
  larger 
  than 
  pin 
  heads, 
  flies, 
  

   wasps, 
  beetles 
  and 
  the 
  like, 
  whose 
  larvae 
  feed 
  upon 
  the 
  eggs. 
  Wasps, 
  hornets, 
  and 
  

   flies 
  attack 
  the 
  grown 
  insect. 
  

  

  Mr. 
  Merritt 
  Harden, 
  through 
  his 
  piscatorial 
  proclivities, 
  happily 
  discovered 
  that 
  

   our 
  atrox 
  is 
  badly 
  parasitised 
  with 
  the 
  "red 
  mite" 
  Tronibidium 
  locustarum, 
  described 
  

   and 
  named 
  by 
  Professor 
  Riley. 
  Should 
  this 
  parasite 
  multiply, 
  the 
  instinct 
  of 
  the 
  

   locust 
  will 
  cause 
  it 
  to 
  avoid 
  the 
  vicinity, 
  as 
  was 
  distinctly 
  proved 
  in 
  the 
  East 
  with 
  

   the 
  "hated" 
  spretus. 
  

  

  A 
  certain 
  fly 
  (Tachina) 
  seeks 
  out 
  the 
  locust 
  to 
  deposit 
  by 
  a 
  quick 
  dart 
  upon 
  it 
  an 
  

   egg, 
  which 
  speedily 
  hatches, 
  gnaws 
  into 
  the 
  body 
  of 
  the 
  locust 
  and 
  preys 
  upon 
  its- 
  

   vitals, 
  soon 
  killing 
  it. 
  Swarms 
  of 
  these 
  flies 
  have 
  been 
  known 
  to 
  drive 
  out 
  or 
  turn 
  

   the 
  course 
  of 
  an 
  army 
  of 
  locusts. 
  The 
  so-called 
  "hair-worm 
  " 
  lives 
  a 
  portion 
  of 
  its 
  

   life 
  in 
  the 
  locust. 
  It 
  never 
  originates 
  from 
  horse 
  hairs, 
  as 
  often 
  thought. 
  

  

  The 
  whole 
  bird 
  family, 
  from 
  the 
  swan 
  to 
  the 
  pee- 
  wee, 
  are 
  valiant 
  friends 
  of 
  man 
  in 
  

   the 
  contest. 
  So 
  important 
  is 
  this 
  aid 
  that 
  public 
  sentiment 
  as 
  well 
  as 
  legislation 
  in 
  

   all 
  the 
  West 
  protects 
  the 
  birds 
  from 
  wanton 
  destruction. 
  Prof. 
  S. 
  Aughey, 
  of 
  Ne- 
  

   braska, 
  investigated 
  this 
  subject 
  in 
  aid 
  of 
  the 
  commission, 
  and 
  names 
  260 
  kinds 
  of 
  

   useful 
  birds 
  in 
  the 
  crops 
  or 
  stomachs 
  of 
  which 
  he 
  found 
  locusts. 
  Principal 
  of 
  these 
  

   are 
  domestic 
  fowls, 
  robins, 
  black-birds, 
  larks, 
  bluebirds, 
  swallows, 
  snipe, 
  plover, 
  

   ducks, 
  doves, 
  grouse, 
  magpies, 
  crows, 
  &c. 
  

  

  Several 
  quadrupeds 
  rally 
  for 
  the 
  destruction 
  of 
  locusts, 
  including 
  the 
  common 
  

   skunk, 
  which 
  for 
  signal 
  service 
  in 
  this 
  cause 
  is 
  voted 
  a 
  benefactor 
  in 
  the 
  locust 
  region, 
  

   and 
  is 
  petted, 
  despite 
  his 
  odor. 
  

  

  The 
  Indians 
  of 
  the 
  interior, 
  usually 
  so 
  stolid, 
  become 
  quite 
  excited 
  at 
  the 
  approach 
  

   of 
  locusts, 
  not 
  with 
  fear, 
  but 
  joy, 
  as 
  they 
  proceed 
  to 
  harvest 
  a 
  winter's 
  store 
  of 
  " 
  click- 
  

   ets," 
  in 
  this 
  respect 
  resembling 
  the 
  Arab 
  of 
  the 
  desert, 
  who, 
  at 
  sight 
  of 
  the 
  coming 
  

   cloud, 
  falls 
  on 
  his 
  face, 
  with 
  loud 
  cries 
  of 
  praise 
  to 
  Allah 
  and 
  the 
  Prophet, 
  for 
  sending 
  

   him 
  food. 
  

  

  PROTECTION 
  AND 
  DEFENSES. 
  

  

  These 
  are 
  of 
  five 
  sorts 
  : 
  1st. 
  Encouragement 
  of 
  natural 
  locust 
  enemies 
  ; 
  2d. 
  De- 
  

   struction 
  of 
  the 
  eggs 
  ; 
  3d. 
  Destruction 
  of 
  the 
  unfledged 
  young 
  ; 
  4th. 
  Destruction 
  of 
  

   the 
  flyers 
  ; 
  5th. 
  Warding 
  off 
  by 
  frightful 
  objects 
  or 
  sounds. 
  The 
  best 
  means 
  of 
  de- 
  

   stroying 
  the 
  eggs 
  is 
  by 
  plowing 
  them 
  under, 
  harrowing 
  them 
  out 
  of 
  their 
  nests 
  in 
  

   autumn 
  and 
  exposing 
  to 
  winter 
  weather 
  and 
  birds, 
  irrigating 
  and 
  rotting 
  them, 
  or 
  

   making 
  the 
  ground 
  too 
  hard 
  for 
  egress 
  by 
  rolling. 
  

  

  When 
  it 
  is 
  remembered 
  that 
  the 
  young 
  locust 
  does 
  not 
  dig 
  its 
  way 
  out 
  of 
  the 
  ground 
  — 
  

   only 
  wriggles 
  out 
  of 
  the 
  loose 
  soil 
  with 
  its 
  mantle 
  still 
  on 
  — 
  the 
  feasibility 
  of 
  plowing, 
  

   harrowing, 
  and 
  rolling 
  is 
  apparent, 
  and 
  I 
  am 
  surprised 
  that 
  not 
  a 
  farmer 
  of 
  Sierra 
  

   Valley 
  is 
  reported 
  as 
  trying 
  these 
  remedies. 
  Certain 
  knolls 
  known 
  to 
  be 
  full 
  of 
  eggs 
  

   could 
  be 
  thus 
  treated, 
  and 
  the 
  vast 
  bulk 
  of 
  our 
  local 
  pest 
  be 
  destroyed 
  in 
  the 
  egg. 
  I 
  

   say 
  " 
  local 
  pest 
  " 
  advisedly. 
  The 
  (Edipoda 
  atrox 
  is 
  not 
  a 
  true 
  migratore, 
  does 
  not 
  rise 
  

   in 
  vast 
  swarms 
  to 
  a 
  great 
  height, 
  and 
  journey 
  for 
  days 
  in 
  a 
  given 
  direction 
  ; 
  hence 
  its 
  

   destruction 
  may 
  be 
  compassed 
  or 
  completed 
  by 
  vigorous 
  concert 
  of 
  action. 
  

  

  And 
  this 
  is 
  the 
  comfort 
  we 
  may 
  gather 
  from 
  all 
  this 
  investigation 
  ; 
  that 
  this 
  is 
  not 
  

   the 
  hateful 
  spretus 
  of 
  the 
  Rocky 
  Mountains, 
  liable 
  at 
  any 
  day 
  to 
  drop 
  out 
  of 
  the 
  sky 
  

   in 
  overwhelming 
  myriads, 
  but 
  only 
  a 
  local 
  and 
  usually 
  harmless 
  species, 
  that 
  for 
  some, 
  

   perhaps 
  evanescent, 
  cause 
  has 
  multiplied 
  to 
  a 
  destructive 
  extent. 
  The 
  theory 
  lately 
  

   advanced 
  in 
  the 
  Republican 
  (which 
  I 
  fear 
  may 
  be 
  credited 
  to 
  me, 
  as 
  the 
  editor 
  refers 
  

  

  