﻿GENERAL 
  REPORT 
  FOR 
  1881. 
  41 
  

  

  along 
  the 
  ground 
  during 
  locust 
  years, 
  and 
  have 
  also 
  taken 
  a 
  very 
  large 
  

   number 
  of 
  the 
  locusts 
  that 
  were 
  infested 
  with 
  them. 
  At 
  present 
  I 
  can- 
  

   not 
  recall 
  the 
  dates 
  when 
  they 
  appeared 
  in 
  greatest 
  numbers, 
  but 
  recol- 
  

   lect 
  quite 
  well 
  their 
  api)earance 
  in 
  1865, 
  when 
  I 
  was 
  assisting 
  some 
  

   niaghbor 
  boys 
  to 
  keep 
  the 
  locusts 
  from 
  a 
  cabbage 
  i)atch. 
  

  

  I 
  do 
  not 
  now 
  remember 
  whether 
  I 
  obtained 
  any 
  of 
  the 
  liesli 
  flies 
  

   (Sarcophaga) 
  from 
  the 
  bodies 
  of 
  the 
  matured 
  locust, 
  but 
  have 
  taken 
  

   tiiem 
  on 
  the 
  ground 
  soon 
  after 
  they 
  left 
  their 
  victims. 
  Some 
  of 
  these 
  

   flies 
  infest 
  the 
  larvae 
  and 
  pupae 
  as 
  well 
  as 
  the 
  winged 
  insects. 
  1 
  have 
  

   iilso 
  often 
  seen 
  them 
  attacking 
  other 
  species 
  of 
  locusts 
  besides 
  the 
  

   migratory 
  one, 
  and 
  not 
  unfrequently 
  have 
  I 
  found 
  these 
  grubs 
  or 
  mag- 
  

   :^()ts 
  in 
  my 
  drying 
  box 
  after 
  having 
  pinned 
  large 
  series 
  of 
  "natives." 
  

   These 
  undoubtedly 
  belonged 
  to 
  several 
  species 
  and 
  genera, 
  judging 
  

   Irora 
  their 
  slight 
  diflerences 
  in 
  size 
  and 
  form; 
  but 
  as 
  I 
  had 
  not 
  the 
  time 
  

   iiud 
  facilities 
  for 
  rearing 
  them, 
  the 
  species 
  remain 
  undetermined. 
  

  

  Until 
  quite 
  recently 
  the 
  larval 
  habits 
  of 
  our 
  various 
  blister 
  beetles 
  

   were 
  but 
  little 
  understood. 
  Since 
  the 
  researches 
  of 
  the 
  Commission, 
  

   however, 
  the 
  preparatory 
  stages 
  of 
  many 
  insects 
  which 
  had 
  hitherto 
  

   been 
  shrouded 
  in 
  mystery 
  have 
  been 
  ascertained 
  for 
  the 
  first 
  time. 
  

   Among 
  these 
  were 
  those 
  of 
  quite 
  a 
  number 
  of 
  the 
  Meloidae. 
  It 
  has 
  been 
  

   ascertained 
  that 
  they 
  feed 
  upon 
  the 
  eggs 
  of 
  locusts, 
  and 
  especially 
  

   those 
  of 
  C. 
  spretus. 
  This, 
  then, 
  accounts 
  for 
  the 
  great 
  numbers 
  of 
  these 
  

   insects 
  that 
  are 
  found 
  in 
  all 
  the 
  leading 
  locust 
  areas 
  of 
  the 
  West 
  and 
  

   Is'"orthwest, 
  especially 
  in 
  the 
  latter 
  district. 
  Eiley 
  has 
  shown 
  in 
  the 
  

   rei)ort 
  for 
  1878 
  and 
  1879 
  the 
  peculiar 
  and 
  interesting 
  feature 
  possessed 
  by 
  

   xbe 
  young 
  of 
  some 
  of 
  these 
  insects 
  of 
  protracting 
  development 
  one, 
  two, 
  

   or 
  even 
  more 
  years, 
  thereby 
  supplying 
  a 
  new 
  means 
  for 
  the 
  continu- 
  

   ation 
  of 
  a 
  species 
  that 
  is 
  dependent 
  upon 
  uncertainties 
  for 
  its 
  continu- 
  

   uarion 
  among 
  the 
  living. 
  

  

  I 
  have 
  noticed 
  a 
  great 
  number 
  of 
  species 
  of 
  these 
  insects 
  both 
  in 
  Mon- 
  

   tana 
  and 
  Colorado. 
  In 
  Montana 
  they 
  were 
  mostly 
  partial 
  to 
  the 
  Legu- 
  

   minosfae 
  — 
  TAtpinus, 
  Astragalus, 
  &c. 
  — 
  some 
  of 
  which 
  in 
  certain 
  localities 
  

   were 
  covered 
  with 
  these 
  beetles 
  and 
  denuded 
  of 
  their 
  foliage, 
  thus 
  fur- 
  

   nishing 
  an 
  example 
  of 
  an 
  insect 
  that 
  in 
  its 
  preparatory 
  stages 
  is 
  parasitic 
  

   on 
  another, 
  and 
  that 
  after 
  maturing 
  lives 
  upon 
  a 
  ])lant 
  not 
  eaten 
  by 
  the 
  in- 
  

   ject 
  on 
  whi(}h 
  it 
  was 
  a 
  parasite. 
  In 
  this 
  way, 
  then, 
  the 
  parasitic 
  beetle 
  is 
  

   not 
  only 
  insured 
  a 
  chance 
  of 
  perpetuating 
  its 
  kind 
  through 
  its 
  capability 
  

   of 
  lying 
  dormant 
  in 
  its 
  imperfect 
  stages 
  for 
  an 
  indefinite 
  time 
  if 
  the 
  neces- 
  

   sary 
  amount 
  of 
  food 
  is 
  absent, 
  but 
  also 
  through 
  its 
  choice 
  of 
  food, 
  in 
  its 
  

   perfect 
  state, 
  since 
  it 
  lives 
  upon 
  that 
  which 
  the 
  locust 
  discards. 
  In 
  Col- 
  

   orado 
  the 
  food-plants 
  of 
  these 
  beetles 
  are 
  chiefly 
  such 
  as 
  belong 
  to 
  the 
  

   Compositae 
  and 
  Solanaceae 
  — 
  a 
  few 
  choosing 
  the 
  cultivated 
  potato. 
  

  

  To 
  these 
  natural 
  remedies 
  add 
  all 
  those 
  which 
  have 
  been 
  devised 
  by 
  

   man, 
  and 
  we 
  have 
  such 
  a 
  formidable 
  array 
  of 
  destroying 
  agencies 
  at 
  

   work 
  against 
  the 
  lives 
  of 
  these 
  locusts 
  in 
  the 
  egg, 
  larva, 
  pupa, 
  and 
  

   winged 
  states, 
  that, 
  were 
  it 
  not 
  for 
  their 
  incalculable 
  numbers, 
  they 
  would 
  

  

  