34 



I have been at considerable pains to locate this swarm in order to 

 warn those concerned of its presence. The day that it was observed I 

 made use of the telegraph to notify the authorities in Minnesota and 

 North Dakota of what might be expected. However, it has been 

 impossible at the present time to obtain trace of its whereabouts. 

 Owing to a speedy change of wind at sundown on the day of the flight, 

 I have surmised that it did not extend far into North Dakota, and judge 

 that a point somewhere between New Eockford and Fargo will be the 

 center of some destruction next year. It may be, however, that the 

 Eed River Valley in Minnesota was reached. 



While hastening to reach a point from which the swarm mentioned 

 might be traced in North Dakota, I continued my efforts while in Mani- 

 toba to find the actual breeding ground for spretus. It should be men- 

 tioned, however, that the season was now far advanced and the swarms 

 had left, so that the search was confronted with many obstacles. For 

 the purpose of working out this point a trip was made to a range of 

 sand-hills and barren coulees on the north side of the Souris Eiver, 

 between Napinka and the village of Souris. This was in exactly the 

 direction that the swarm had taken. I found here a sample of a 

 peculiar formation that appears, as I am informed, at places through- 

 out Manitoba and the territory of Saskatchewan and toward the north- 

 ern limit of the prairies especially. There is exposed a ridge of red 

 sand which is of such fineness and lightness that it is continually 

 blown about by the wind. During many seasons the most labyrinthine 

 hollows and knolls have been formed. Here and there scrub oak and 

 poplar have obtained a foothold, and a few specimens of Kuhnistera 

 viUosa Nutt. and Solidago missouriensis Nutt. are seen in places where 

 an outcropping of rock makes the soil slightly more firm. But I am 

 convinced that this place, to which all persons familiar with the coun- 

 try with whom I consulted regarding suitable grounds for the habita- 

 tion of spretus referred me, can not be the source of swarms. The 

 loose and drifting soil is totally unsuited to their habits. Moreover I 

 received reliable information regarding flights, both this year and in 

 several preceding years, from the northwest of this point. 



As accurately as may be stated from the data in hand, spretus origi- 

 nates in the territory lying northeast of Eegina, toward the Big Touch- 

 wood Mountains and to the south of a line drawn between these points. 

 Here, along the Assiniboine Eiver and its tributaries, is a region 

 covered with sparsely occurring grasses which is adapted for the 

 species. But a personal visit to this place at the proper time of the year 

 is necessary for the solution of the question. 



THE PRESENT STATUS OF MELANOPLUS SPRETUS IN NORTH DAKOTA. 



The three years preceding (1899), in Manitoba and North Dakota, 

 were unusually dry. and a climax was reached in 1898. June, 

 which is usually the wet month in that part, and the month when 

 the locusts hatch, had brought but little moisture. Accordingly, the 



