﻿[68] 
  REPORT 
  UNITED 
  STATES 
  ENTOMOLOGICAL 
  COMMISSION. 
  

  

  have 
  read 
  in 
  an 
  ancient 
  Spanish 
  romance 
  this 
  question: 
  "What 
  animal 
  is 
  that 
  which 
  

   resembles 
  all 
  the 
  animals? 
  Answer. 
  The 
  locust; 
  because 
  he 
  has 
  the 
  horns 
  of 
  a 
  stag, 
  

   the 
  eyes 
  of 
  a 
  cow, 
  the 
  face 
  of 
  a 
  horse, 
  the 
  talons 
  of 
  a 
  stork, 
  the 
  tail 
  of 
  a 
  serpent, 
  and 
  

   the 
  wings 
  of 
  a 
  dove." 
  The 
  tracing 
  out 
  of 
  these 
  resemblances 
  proves 
  that 
  the 
  locust 
  

   has 
  been 
  for 
  a 
  long 
  time 
  known 
  and 
  observed 
  in 
  Spain. 
  Many 
  old 
  men 
  have 
  assured 
  

   me, 
  when 
  questioned 
  upon 
  the 
  locust 
  plague 
  of 
  1754, 
  that 
  that 
  was 
  the 
  third 
  which 
  

   they 
  had 
  seen 
  in 
  their 
  day, 
  and 
  that 
  they 
  existed 
  always 
  in 
  the 
  uncultivated 
  lands 
  of 
  

   Estremadura, 
  whence 
  they 
  wandered 
  from 
  time 
  to 
  time 
  to 
  lay 
  waste 
  other 
  regions. 
  

   Certainly 
  they 
  must 
  be 
  indigenous 
  in 
  Spain, 
  because 
  these 
  are 
  of 
  a 
  very 
  different 
  spe- 
  

   cies 
  from 
  those 
  which 
  are 
  found 
  in 
  the 
  north 
  and 
  in 
  the 
  Levant,* 
  as 
  can 
  easily 
  be 
  seen 
  

   by 
  comparing 
  them 
  with 
  the 
  insects 
  of 
  those 
  countries 
  which 
  are 
  preserved 
  in 
  the 
  

   cabinets 
  of 
  natural 
  history. 
  The 
  locust 
  of 
  Spain 
  is 
  the 
  only 
  one 
  which 
  has 
  wings 
  of 
  

   rose 
  color. 
  Besides 
  this, 
  it 
  is 
  not 
  possible 
  that 
  he 
  should 
  come 
  from 
  other 
  regions, 
  

   because 
  he 
  certainly 
  has 
  not 
  come 
  from 
  the 
  north, 
  as 
  the 
  observation 
  of 
  so 
  many 
  ages 
  

   demonstrates; 
  nor 
  can 
  he 
  have 
  come 
  from 
  the 
  south 
  without 
  crossing 
  the 
  sea, 
  which 
  

   is 
  impossible 
  for 
  him 
  to 
  have 
  done 
  because 
  of 
  his 
  short 
  flight 
  ; 
  and 
  this 
  passage 
  can 
  

   be 
  observed 
  like 
  that 
  of 
  the 
  quails 
  and 
  of 
  other 
  migratory 
  birds. 
  I 
  have 
  seen 
  a 
  troop 
  

   of 
  locusts 
  pass 
  through 
  Malaga 
  and 
  enter 
  for 
  a 
  quarter 
  of 
  a 
  league 
  over 
  the 
  sea; 
  but 
  

   when 
  the 
  people 
  began 
  to 
  take 
  pleasure 
  in 
  the 
  hope 
  that 
  they 
  would 
  disappear 
  and 
  

   be 
  drowned, 
  they 
  gave 
  a 
  sweep 
  toward 
  the 
  left, 
  flew 
  straight 
  to 
  the 
  earth, 
  and 
  paused 
  

   to 
  deposit 
  their 
  eggs 
  in 
  an 
  uncultivated 
  field 
  surrounded 
  by 
  vines, 
  such 
  as 
  they 
  usually 
  

   choose 
  for 
  their 
  nests. 
  The 
  great 
  number 
  of 
  dead 
  bodies 
  of 
  the 
  locusts 
  which 
  are 
  ob- 
  

   served 
  floating 
  on 
  the 
  shores 
  of 
  the 
  Mediterranean, 
  and 
  which 
  are 
  drowned 
  in 
  rivers, 
  

   which 
  transport 
  them 
  into 
  the 
  sea, 
  afford 
  familiar 
  examples 
  of 
  their 
  troops 
  or 
  swarms 
  

   which 
  are 
  precipitated 
  into 
  the 
  sea 
  on 
  their 
  journeys. 
  

  

  I 
  have 
  referred 
  to 
  the 
  injuries 
  which 
  this 
  insect 
  occasions. 
  I 
  may 
  now 
  anticipate 
  

   the 
  remedy 
  which 
  the 
  superintendents 
  and 
  the 
  magistrates 
  of 
  Estremadura 
  and 
  of 
  La 
  

   Mancha 
  enjoin 
  upon 
  the 
  countrymen, 
  and 
  especially 
  upon 
  the 
  shepherds: 
  to 
  discover 
  

   the 
  places 
  where 
  they 
  have 
  deposited 
  their 
  eggs, 
  and 
  unitedly 
  to 
  join 
  in 
  destroying 
  

   them, 
  without 
  waiting 
  for 
  the 
  time 
  when 
  they 
  have 
  developed 
  and 
  have 
  begun 
  to 
  hop. 
  

   However 
  great 
  may 
  be 
  the 
  number 
  thus 
  destroyed, 
  there 
  remains 
  always 
  an 
  immense 
  

   army. 
  But 
  it 
  were 
  better 
  to 
  annihilate 
  this 
  horrible 
  scourge 
  where 
  it 
  is 
  produced, 
  and 
  

   where 
  it 
  always 
  exists 
  in 
  a 
  greater 
  or 
  less 
  degree, 
  by 
  exterminating 
  it 
  from 
  the 
  roots. 
  

   I 
  have 
  seen 
  in 
  San 
  Clemente 
  multitudes 
  of 
  locusts 
  destroyed 
  in 
  two 
  months, 
  which, 
  

   perhaps, 
  left 
  only 
  in 
  all 
  Estremadura 
  a 
  few 
  who 
  were 
  not 
  able 
  to 
  fly 
  ; 
  and 
  nevertheless 
  

   the 
  effect 
  was 
  like 
  taking 
  a 
  drop 
  of 
  water 
  out 
  of 
  the 
  sea, 
  nor 
  was 
  there 
  observed 
  in 
  the 
  

   following 
  year 
  any 
  diminution 
  in 
  the 
  number 
  of 
  locusts. 
  It 
  appears 
  that 
  it 
  would 
  be 
  

   attended 
  with 
  less 
  labor 
  and 
  expense 
  if 
  the 
  end 
  were 
  aimed 
  at 
  of 
  making 
  war 
  upon 
  

   them 
  in 
  their 
  own 
  country 
  and 
  preventing 
  their 
  fatal 
  eruptions. 
  

  

  * 
  It 
  is 
  very 
  important 
  not 
  to 
  confound 
  the 
  locust 
  of 
  Spain 
  with 
  those 
  described 
  by 
  other 
  authors. 
  

   These 
  furnish 
  a 
  fine 
  occasion 
  to 
  display 
  erudition 
  upon 
  the 
  species 
  of 
  known 
  locusts, 
  of 
  which 
  we 
  find 
  

   mention 
  in 
  Exodus, 
  and 
  which 
  St. 
  John 
  the 
  Baptist 
  fed 
  upon 
  in 
  the 
  desert, 
  like 
  the 
  people 
  called 
  "Acri- 
  

   dofagos" 
  or 
  locust-eaters; 
  but 
  all 
  this 
  is 
  not 
  to 
  our 
  purpose, 
  and 
  can 
  be 
  found 
  in 
  the 
  books 
  of 
  the 
  nat- 
  

   uralist. 
  

  

  