190 



The Rocky Mountain Locust. 



pable of any extended flight,* I could not help feeling that 

 some other species had been confounded with it, and had 

 played the part of migratory locust in the White Moun- 

 tain regions of Maine and New Hampshire. It was with 

 satisfaction, therefore, that, upon examining the locusts 

 sent me by Mr. Colby, I found them to belong to the 

 species defined in Chapter I, as Atlanis, which is smaller 

 than either the Rocky Mountain or the Red-legged species, 

 but in structure and relative length of wing much more 

 nearly resembles the former than the latter; in other words, 

 its relative length of wing enables it to fly with almost the 

 same facility as its Rocky Mountain congener. 



INJURY FROM OTHER, NON-MIGRATORY LOCUSTS. 



Almost every year, in some part or other of the country, 

 we hear reports of injury by locusts. In 1868, for instance, 

 while the Rocky Mountain species was attracting attention, 

 as I have already stated, (p. 37), in many parts of the 

 West, other non-migratory species were extremely inju- 

 rious in the Mississippi Valley, and in the Eastern States. 

 In Ohio they appeared in countless myriads during that 

 year, and at the meeting of the Cincinnati Wine Growers' 

 Society it was stated that they invaded the vineyards, 

 destroying entire rows, defoliating the vines and sucking 

 out the juices of the berries. In the same year I saw them 

 in countless millions in many parts of Illinois and Missouri. 

 They actually stripped many corn-fields in these States, 

 and had not the crops been unusually abundant, would 

 have caused some suffering. They were very destructive 

 to flower and vegetable gardens. 



* I do not mean by this that it is incapable of rising in the air; but 1 am quite 

 sure that as found in St. Louis county it is incapable of any such flights as sprttus 

 takes. In the higher parts of the country, whether East or West, the power of 

 flight may be greater. 



