﻿GENERAL 
  REPORT 
  FOR 
  188l. 
  39 
  

  

  sections 
  sliow 
  how 
  partial 
  almost 
  every 
  one 
  of 
  these 
  birds 
  is 
  to 
  locusts 
  

   as 
  food. 
  Kot 
  only 
  the 
  wild 
  birds 
  of 
  a 
  country, 
  but 
  also 
  all 
  kinds 
  of 
  

   poultry 
  attack 
  them 
  with 
  avidity. 
  Even 
  squirrels, 
  mice, 
  chipmunks, 
  

   weasels, 
  skunks, 
  and 
  larger 
  animals 
  devour 
  them 
  in 
  great 
  numbers. 
  

   During 
  my 
  sojourn 
  in 
  Central 
  Montana 
  last 
  summer 
  (1880), 
  I 
  frequently 
  

   saw 
  the 
  little 
  striped 
  squirrels 
  (of 
  which 
  the 
  country 
  is 
  full) 
  capturing 
  

   and 
  devouring 
  locusts, 
  and 
  that 
  this 
  is 
  a 
  common 
  practice 
  with 
  most 
  

   rodents 
  there 
  is 
  but 
  little 
  doubt, 
  as 
  we 
  know 
  their 
  habit 
  of 
  frequently 
  

   changing 
  their 
  diet 
  from 
  vegetable 
  to 
  animal 
  substances, 
  and 
  also 
  

   find 
  numerous 
  remains 
  of 
  locusts 
  and 
  other 
  insects 
  in 
  the 
  neighbor- 
  

   hood 
  of 
  their 
  haunts. 
  All 
  reptiles 
  and 
  fishes 
  at 
  times 
  do 
  a 
  great 
  deal 
  

   towards 
  lessening 
  the 
  numbers 
  of 
  this 
  as 
  well 
  as 
  other 
  injurious 
  insects. 
  

   However 
  great 
  is 
  the 
  destruction 
  of 
  locusts 
  by 
  these 
  animals, 
  which 
  we 
  

   can 
  see, 
  it 
  is 
  carried 
  on 
  in 
  a 
  much 
  larger 
  scale 
  by 
  insect 
  parasites 
  which 
  

   we 
  do 
  not 
  notice. 
  These 
  are 
  almost 
  equally 
  as 
  numerous 
  in 
  species 
  and 
  

   far 
  more 
  so 
  in 
  individuals. 
  Some 
  of 
  them 
  confine 
  their 
  attacks 
  exclu- 
  

   sively 
  to 
  the 
  eggs, 
  others 
  to 
  the 
  young, 
  while 
  still 
  others 
  only 
  destroy 
  

   the 
  mature 
  locust. 
  Others 
  attack 
  it 
  in 
  all 
  of 
  its 
  stages, 
  and 
  in 
  their 
  

   modes 
  of 
  life 
  succeed 
  in 
  accompanying 
  it 
  throughout 
  large 
  tracts 
  of 
  

   country. 
  

  

  The 
  eggs 
  of 
  the 
  locust 
  are 
  attacked 
  by 
  a 
  great 
  variety 
  of 
  insects, 
  

   which, 
  as 
  a 
  rule, 
  feed 
  upon 
  them 
  in 
  their 
  larval 
  stages. 
  Of 
  these 
  the 
  

   most 
  noticeable 
  are 
  several 
  species 
  of 
  two- 
  winged 
  flies 
  of 
  the 
  genus 
  

   Anthomyia, 
  quite 
  a 
  number 
  of 
  species 
  of 
  what 
  are 
  popularly 
  known 
  as 
  

   ^' 
  bee 
  flies," 
  and 
  the 
  grubs 
  of 
  several 
  species 
  of 
  beetles 
  that 
  are 
  closely 
  

   allied 
  to 
  the 
  ^^ 
  Spanish 
  Fly." 
  In 
  addition 
  to 
  these 
  quite 
  a 
  large 
  number 
  

   of 
  other 
  species 
  have 
  been 
  known 
  to 
  attack 
  them. 
  

  

  The 
  most 
  beneficial 
  of 
  these 
  egg 
  parasites 
  are 
  those 
  known 
  as 
  locust 
  

   mites. 
  These 
  often 
  become 
  very 
  numerous, 
  at 
  times 
  having 
  been 
  known 
  

   to 
  destroy 
  as 
  high 
  as 
  70 
  per 
  cent, 
  of 
  the 
  eggs 
  laid 
  in 
  i)ortions 
  of 
  Minne- 
  

   sota. 
  They 
  have 
  also 
  done 
  much 
  good 
  in 
  portions 
  of 
  Dakota, 
  Iowa, 
  

   Nebraska, 
  Kansas, 
  and 
  Missouri, 
  and 
  in 
  part 
  helped 
  to 
  save 
  many 
  a 
  

   field 
  of 
  grain 
  that 
  would 
  otherwise 
  have 
  been 
  devoured. 
  Native 
  species 
  

   of 
  locusts 
  are 
  also 
  attacked 
  by 
  these 
  mites, 
  but 
  whether 
  these 
  are 
  of 
  the 
  

   same 
  or 
  different 
  species 
  I 
  am 
  unable 
  to 
  state 
  at 
  present, 
  not 
  having 
  

   examined 
  them 
  with 
  a 
  view 
  of 
  determining 
  them. 
  I 
  have 
  also 
  seen 
  

   several 
  species 
  of 
  Meloidse 
  so 
  completely 
  covered 
  by 
  these 
  little 
  red 
  

   mites 
  that 
  they 
  appeared 
  like 
  a 
  moving 
  mass 
  of 
  red 
  insects, 
  and 
  it 
  was 
  

   with 
  great 
  difficulty 
  that 
  they 
  were 
  enabled 
  to 
  move 
  about. 
  

  

  The 
  habits 
  of 
  these 
  mites 
  are 
  such, 
  too, 
  as 
  to 
  aid 
  in 
  the 
  furtherance 
  

   of 
  their 
  good 
  work. 
  Early 
  in 
  the 
  spring 
  

  

  The 
  female 
  lays 
  between 
  300 
  and 
  400 
  minute, 
  spherical, 
  orange-red 
  eggs 
  in 
  the 
  ground. 
  

   They 
  are 
  usually 
  from 
  one 
  to 
  two 
  inches 
  beneath 
  the 
  surface 
  and 
  in 
  slightly 
  aggluti- 
  

   nated 
  masses, 
  which, 
  however, 
  easily 
  become 
  scattered 
  upon 
  disturbance 
  of 
  the 
  soil. 
  

   From 
  these 
  eggs, 
  in 
  due 
  time, 
  there 
  hatch 
  little 
  orange 
  mites, 
  which 
  differ 
  from 
  the 
  

   parent 
  in 
  having 
  but 
  six 
  legs. 
  — 
  (Riley.) 
  

  

  