14 



The Rocky Mountain Locust. 



and two of these I desire to call special attention to, be- 

 cause they are widespread and common. So at the outset 

 the reader will be served with some rather dry details, 

 and if such be not palatable, he is advised to pass to other 

 chapters that may interest him more. 



In my endeavors to accurately map out the territory in 

 Missouri invaded in 1874 by the Rocky Mountain Locust, 

 I was frequently puzzled by accounts from counties east of 

 the limit-line beyond which, as I shall show in Chapter VI, 

 it never reaches to do harm. In every such instance, 

 where I was able to obtain specimens, they proved to be 



the common Red-legged 

 Locust. This last species 

 is common in most of the 

 States, extending to the 

 ked-legged Locust. Atlantic, and is even re- 



ported in parts of the Rocky Mountain region, where the 

 migratory species is at home. The two bear such a close 

 general resemblance that even entomologists have doubted 

 their specific distinctness; and indeed size and colorational 

 characters would not suffice to separate the exceptional 

 individuals which depart most from the typical characters 

 of their species, and approach most to those of the other. 



t Fi s- 2 -l Yet they are distinct, as 



species go, and in order to 

 properly study the distri- 

 bution of the Rocky Moun- 

 Rockt Mountain Locust. tain species, and its power 



of becoming acclimated in the Mississippi Valley, or not, 

 it is of the first importance that observers confound not 

 the two species. Hence, I shall describe in detail the two 

 insects. From these details, which follow in smaller type, 

 it is evident that the distinguishing characters, most easily 

 observed by the non-entomologist, are the relative length 



