41 



These mites were repeatedly seen, both in the field and labora- 

 tory, in the act of sucking locust eggs; and I believe that they 

 did more to check the outbreak than any other agency. 



CONDITION OF THE EGGS. 



It may be worth while to give here some of the details from 

 my notes, showing the condition of the eggs in the French Grove 

 region, March 22-24. In a pasture belonging to Mr. E. C. Davis, 

 where the locusts had been exceedingly destructive, forty-nine e^g- 

 masses were found, thirty -two of which had been destroyed. In 

 this field carabid larvae and red mites were abundant and the 

 coarctate larv?e of certain meloids were not uncommon. In a 

 meadow on the same farm, where also great damage had been 

 done the previous season, a single egg pod was found, the eggs 

 having been destroyed. In another pasture, belonging to Mr. J. 

 C. Slocum, five egg-masses were found, all of which had been in- 

 jured. Three meloid coarctate larvae were here taken, and several 

 carabid larvae. Twenty-seven of the pods were found in a pasture 

 belonging to Mr. Jacob Moore, but twenty-two of them had been 

 destroyed. Carabid beetles were here abundant, and a few carabid 

 larvae were seen, as were also two Epicauta or Macrobasis. ^ 



I next examined a forty-acre meadow belonging to Mr. Geo. M. 

 Moore, which had been largely destroyed by the locusts the pre- 

 vious summer. A part of it had been plowed late in autumn, but 

 I could see no difference in the per cent, of pods injured on the 

 plowed and unplowed portions. Twenty-one egg masses were 

 found, nine of which had been destroyed. The injured remains of 

 three pods, and two others in which the eggs were intact, were 

 found on the farm of Mr. "VVm. Andrews. Along the roadside 

 various situations were examined and four masses were found, twa 

 of them being uninjured. 



Thus far, in the eleven situations examined there were found a total 

 of one hundred and three egg-masses, seventy four (or about sev- 

 enty-three per cent.) of which had been destroyed. This probably 

 fairly represented the condition of tlie locust eggs throughout 

 that locality at that time, as especial pains were taken to make 

 examinations in fields remote from each other, and in which the 

 conditions varied. 



ABUNDANCE OF LOCUSTS IN 1886. 



The region was not visited again until June 4 and 5, 1886, when 

 the country about Elm wood, French Grove, and Monica was thor- 

 oughly examined for young locusts, which were then mostly about 

 a week old. As a result they were found to be everywhere ex- 

 tremely scarce; and I did not hesitate to express the opinion that 

 in all probability there would be no appreciable locust injury in 

 that region during the summer of 1886. The red mites had evi- 

 dently completed the good work begun by the carabid and meloid 

 larvae, and destroyed a large proportion of the eggs yet present at 

 the opening of spring. 



