REPORT OF THE STATE ENTOMOLOGIST 1914 5 1 



the Yukon river. It is not found in the southernmost Atlantic states 

 and most of California. 



This pest winters in egg pods characteristic of many grasshoppers 

 and normally hatches about the middle or latter part of May and, as 

 shown by our observations of last summer, is particularly abundant 

 in comparatively open, sandy regions where there is a relatively 

 sparse vegetation. Wild or partly cultivated light soils appear to be 

 particularly favored by this insect. According to the observations 

 of Professor Somes in Minnesota, it is very likely to become abundant 

 with a series of favorable seasons. The grasshoppers become mature 

 from June 20 to the middle of July and from then till frost may be 

 seen pairing. About the middle of August the deposition of eggs 

 begins. A female deposits during the latter part of her existence, 

 two to three and possibly four egg pods, a total of possibly one hun- 

 dred eggs. Dry and rather firm soil is preferred for oviposition. 

 Frequently large numbers of eggs are deposited within a very limited 

 area, and upon their hatching in the spring the ground may be fairly 

 discolored with the hosts of recently hatched grasshoppers. The 

 young grasshoppers feed for a time in the immediate vicinity of their 

 hatching places and very frequently, as shown by the conditions 

 of the buckwheat fields, shelter in the fence rows and work into the 

 young buckwheat to such an extent as totally to destroy the crop on 

 the margins. Somewhat the same conditions obtain in mowings or 

 pastures around spots where there is a heavy deposition of eggs. 

 The feeding is sometimes so extensive as nearly to kill the grass. 

 There is no evidence for supporting the belief that there is more than 

 one generation in the north, though according to observations by 

 Riley at St Louis, Mo., the first matured insects appeared July 12th, 

 deposited eggs by the 20th and young hatching therefrom developed 

 in 80 days. Bruner has also observed a second brood in the District 

 of Columbia, the adults being smaller and darker. 



The red-legged grasshopper, Melanoplus femur- rubrum 

 DeG., is one of the commonest and most generally distributed of our 

 species and is not readily separated from the lesser red-legged grass- 

 hopper, Melanoplus atlanis Riley. According to Bruner, 

 it is a frequenter of low grounds, cultivated fields, shaded margins of 

 woods, etc., where vegetation is rank and tender. It is rarely found 

 upon dry hillsides or low adjacent meadows that fairly swarm with 

 insects, a condition quite reverse of that which obtains with the 

 lesser red-legged grasshopper. Collecting the past season resulted in 

 practically none being found in association with the destructive 

 species of the Adirondack foothills, though it was commonly present. 



