228 



The Rocky Mountain Locust. 



Husmann. It is the Brachypeplus magnns of entomolo- 

 gists, and may be popularly called the Clumsy Locust. 

 It is one of our largest and clumsiest species, incapable 

 of flight, and never doing serious injury. It is common 

 on the plains of Western Kansas and Colorado, but was 

 never before reported from Missouri. It is prettily 

 marked, as in Fig. 40, and occurs in two distinct varieties, 

 one in which a bright yellowish-green prevails, and the 

 other in which fleshy tints, and pale-brown predominate. 

 There can be no connection between its appearance and 

 that of spretus, other than that the exodus of this last 

 rendered more conspicuous all large insects of this kind 

 that were left behind. 



Reports are often circulated and published during 

 winter that " the grasshoppers have appeared," by which 

 is meant that the dreaded spretus is about. The follow- 

 ing letter from Dr. B. F. Dunkley, of Dunksburg, 

 Pettis county, Mo., received in the winter of 1875-6, will 

 show how easily people are misled : 



Inclosed please find some young locusts, just hatched out. We 

 believe them to be the Kocky Mountain Locusts, but send them to 

 you to decide. PJease answer. In my report, in answer to your 

 circular, I said that some of the locusts that hatched out late 

 and only grew to half the size of others that migrated and left us 

 last July, did lay their eggs, for myself and others saw them at it. 

 Now I think these are from the eggs laid by them. If so, will the 

 co.d, when it comes, kill them ? 



All opinions like those expressed by Mr. Dunkley are 

 based on "mistaken identity." The species noticed hop- 

 ping about, during the mild weather of January and 

 February, are native species that are with us all the time, 

 and habitually hibernate in the half-grown, unfledged con- 

 dition. The most common of them, and that sent by Mr. 

 Dunkley and other correspondents, is the Green-striped 

 Locust (Tragocephala viridifasciata,) a very common 



