38 CIRCULAR 639, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 
The two species of MWelanoplus resemble each other very closely, and 
their hfe history and habits do noteappear to differ in any material 
respects. The spring emergence period of these grasshoppers usually 
corresponds rather closely with the tobacco-setting season in this 
region, but emergence may continue to a limited extent during a 
5-week period, especially if the weather is wet and cold. 
Under favorable weather conditions they feed on any available 
vegetation and grow rapidly. They shed their skins at varying 
intervals, and the majority reach the adult stage about the first of 
June. These adults deposit eggs in the soil, but the second brood of 
young grasshoppers fortunately arrives too late in the season to 
cause much injury to the tobacco crop. 
Figure 44.—A portion of the side Pal of a tobacco shade field, some how the 
cloth should be brought closely to the ground and held in place to prevent the 
entrance of grasshoppers from beneath. 
Adults and immature stages can be found to a very limited extent 
late in the fall and during the winter months in this region, but the 
insects spend the winter mainly in the egg stage in the oround. 
CONTROL IN TOBACCO SHADE FIELDS 
The cloth tops and side walls of tobacco shade fields give a great 
amount of protection from grasshoppers. Newly hatched stages are so 
small, however, that they may work their way through a single layer 
of the ordinary, coarse-mesh shade cloth. Side walls consisting of 
double or triple layers of shade cloth serve as fairly effective barriers 
against even the smallest grasshoppers. To obtain the greatest pos- 
sible benefit from the side walls the lower edges of these walls must be 
fastened closely to the ground to keep the insects from gaining access 
from beneath (fig. 44), As previously stated, raising the walls to 
permit the entrance of w agons and farm implements is bad practice. 
