﻿NATURAL 
  ENEMIES 
  OF 
  THE 
  LOCUST. 
  26 
  

  

  o 
  

  

  Mr. 
  Dodge 
  sent 
  us, 
  with 
  the 
  same 
  lot 
  of 
  larvae, 
  what 
  he 
  supposed 
  to 
  be 
  

   the 
  parent 
  fly, 
  reared 
  from 
  a 
  lot 
  of 
  locust 
  eggs 
  among 
  which 
  the 
  larvae 
  

   were 
  found. 
  His 
  flies, 
  however, 
  proved 
  to 
  be 
  the 
  An 
  thorny 
  ia 
  egg-para- 
  

   site 
  (A 
  . 
  augustifrons, 
  Meigen, 
  First 
  Eeport, 
  p. 
  285). 
  The 
  single 
  pupa 
  

   thus 
  obtained 
  from 
  Mr. 
  Dodge's 
  specimen 
  agrees 
  with 
  those 
  of 
  Systcechus 
  

   oreas 
  3:a 
  O. 
  S., 
  presently 
  to 
  be 
  described. 
  

  

  During 
  the 
  past 
  two 
  years 
  we 
  have 
  been 
  in 
  correspondence 
  with 
  Prof. 
  

   J. 
  G. 
  Lemmon, 
  of 
  Sierra 
  Yalley, 
  Cal., 
  who 
  has 
  kindly 
  sent 
  us 
  many 
  

   specimens 
  of 
  the 
  locusts 
  occurring 
  there, 
  and 
  especially 
  the 
  eggs 
  and 
  

   early 
  stages 
  of 
  Camnula 
  pellucida. 
  

  

  Among 
  such 
  eggs 
  these 
  bee-fly 
  larvae 
  were, 
  if 
  anything, 
  more 
  common 
  

   than 
  we 
  had 
  found 
  them 
  among 
  the 
  eggs 
  of 
  Caloptenus 
  spretus 
  east 
  of 
  

   the 
  mountains. 
  We 
  here 
  quote 
  one 
  letter 
  in 
  illustration 
  : 
  

  

  By 
  this 
  mail 
  I 
  dispatch 
  another 
  cigar-box 
  tilled, 
  this 
  time, 
  with 
  sods 
  containing 
  

   eggs 
  of 
  the 
  terrible 
  locust 
  that 
  for 
  three 
  years 
  past 
  has 
  devastated 
  Sierra 
  Valley 
  ; 
  also 
  

   the 
  large, 
  fat, 
  white 
  larva 
  that 
  lately 
  made 
  its 
  appearance 
  as 
  a 
  voracious 
  feeder 
  upon 
  

   locust 
  eggs. 
  We 
  don't 
  know 
  certainly 
  what 
  this 
  larva 
  becomes, 
  but 
  at 
  a 
  venture 
  he 
  

   is 
  hailed 
  with 
  great 
  joy. 
  

  

  The 
  ground 
  that 
  was 
  first 
  filled 
  with 
  locust 
  eggs 
  by 
  the 
  (Edipoda 
  atrox, 
  by 
  the 
  end 
  

   of 
  September 
  looked 
  as 
  if 
  scattered 
  with 
  loose 
  shells, 
  so 
  thorough 
  was 
  the 
  work 
  of 
  de- 
  

   struction. 
  

  

  A 
  few 
  of 
  them 
  were 
  detected 
  in 
  among 
  the 
  eggs 
  in 
  April, 
  but 
  not 
  generally 
  until 
  

   August. 
  One 
  individual 
  seems 
  to 
  empty 
  several 
  egg 
  cases 
  before 
  retiring 
  from 
  the 
  

   feast 
  and 
  coiling 
  himself 
  up 
  in 
  a 
  case 
  which 
  he 
  has 
  emptied, 
  or 
  in 
  a 
  nidus 
  of 
  his 
  own 
  

   make. 
  — 
  [J. 
  G. 
  Lemmon, 
  in 
  letter 
  to 
  C. 
  V. 
  Riley, 
  October 
  12, 
  1879. 
  

  

  During 
  1878 
  and 
  1879 
  we 
  failed 
  to 
  rear 
  any 
  of 
  them 
  to 
  the 
  perfect 
  

   state, 
  but 
  on 
  June 
  20 
  of 
  the 
  present 
  year, 
  1880, 
  we 
  obtained 
  from 
  these 
  

   California 
  larva? 
  the 
  first 
  fly. 
  This 
  proved 
  to 
  be 
  a 
  male 
  of 
  Triodites 
  mus 
  

   O. 
  S., 
  333 
  as 
  kindly 
  identified 
  for 
  us 
  by 
  Mr. 
  S. 
  W. 
  Williston, 
  of 
  New 
  Haven. 
  

   The 
  delay 
  in 
  the 
  printing 
  of 
  this 
  report 
  enables 
  us 
  to 
  complete 
  the 
  natu- 
  

   ral 
  history 
  of 
  these 
  insects. 
  We 
  have, 
  during 
  the 
  summer, 
  reared 
  many 
  

   additional 
  specimens 
  of 
  this 
  species 
  and 
  also 
  of 
  the 
  Systcechus 
  oreas 
  O. 
  S. 
  

   already 
  alluded 
  to. 
  Professor 
  Lemmon 
  and 
  his 
  brother, 
  Mr. 
  W. 
  C. 
  Lem- 
  

   mon, 
  have 
  also 
  succeeded 
  in 
  obtaining 
  the 
  mature 
  flies, 
  and 
  have 
  ob- 
  

   served 
  this 
  Systcechus 
  abundantly 
  buzzing 
  about 
  over 
  the 
  ground 
  in 
  

   which 
  the 
  locust 
  eggs 
  were 
  laid, 
  as 
  the 
  following 
  extracts 
  from 
  the 
  cor- 
  

   respondence 
  of 
  these 
  gentlemen 
  will 
  show 
  : 
  

  

  An 
  enemy 
  which 
  has 
  proved 
  very 
  destructive 
  in 
  Sierra 
  Valley 
  and 
  vicinity 
  is 
  the 
  

   larva 
  of, 
  as 
  yet, 
  an 
  unknown 
  insect. 
  It 
  is 
  first 
  observed 
  as 
  a 
  large 
  yellowish-white 
  

   grub 
  about 
  half 
  an 
  inch 
  or 
  even 
  three-fourths 
  of 
  an 
  inch 
  long 
  when 
  extended, 
  it 
  being 
  

   usually 
  curved 
  so 
  that 
  the 
  head 
  and 
  tail 
  nearly 
  touch. 
  It 
  is 
  one-sixth 
  to 
  one-fifth 
  of 
  

   an 
  inch 
  thick 
  just 
  back 
  of 
  the 
  head 
  and 
  tapers 
  slightly 
  towards 
  the 
  tail, 
  also 
  flattened 
  

   slightly 
  dorsally. 
  It 
  is 
  usually 
  found 
  in 
  a 
  case 
  of 
  locust 
  eggs 
  which 
  it 
  has 
  devoured, 
  

   pushing 
  the 
  empty 
  shells 
  aside, 
  and 
  at 
  last 
  occupying 
  the 
  space 
  where 
  were 
  21 
  to 
  36 
  

   eggs. 
  Often 
  it 
  is 
  found 
  in 
  a 
  little 
  space 
  below 
  a 
  number 
  of 
  emptied 
  cases, 
  as 
  though 
  

   it 
  had 
  feasted 
  oft 
  7 
  the 
  contents 
  of 
  several 
  nests. 
  

  

  ^Western 
  Diptera, 
  p. 
  254; 
  Bull. 
  Hayden's 
  Geol. 
  and 
  Geogr. 
  Survey, 
  III, 
  No. 
  2. 
  

   ™Ibid., 
  p. 
  246. 
  

  

  