THE 
AMERICAN NATURALIST. 
VoL. xii. — MARCH, 1878. — No. 3. 
ON THE TRANSFORMATIONS OF THE RED MITES! 
BY PROF. C. V, RILEY. 
The Locust Mite (Trombidium locustarum Riley).—One of the 
most interesting as well as one of the most important of our 
locust enemies is what we may popularly call the Locust Mite. 
It forms a true link between those articulates which prey on the 
eggs and thése which prey on the locusts, since it combines both 
traits. Referred to in previous writings under the name of the 
silky mite, its natural history was first fully made out by the writer 
_ during the past summer. It differs so much in infancy and 
_ Maturity that it has been referred to distinct genera, and was 
always known under two different names. During either period 
it proves a bitter enemy to the locust. In the mature form it 
No suspicion that it was purely a larval form. The specific name 
1 Extracted from Rated copy for the First Annual Report of the U. S. Entomo- 
ical Commiss sio 
VOL. XIL—NO. 111. 11 
