18 
asserted by different persons in this region that the present species 
lays an average of 150 eggs to the pod, which, judging from the frag- 
ments of egg-shells found by digging, is nearly correct; at any rate 
the estimate is not too high. Egg-depositing with this species com- 
mences rather later than with some of the other representatives of the 
genus, but just at what date I did not learn. There is but a single pod 
formed by each insect, the entire complement of eggs being deposited 
at once. 
"The larvae commence hatching during the latter part of March and 
continue to appear up to the middle of April, according to the forward- 
ness or backwardness of the season. Wet, warm weather favors the 
hatching, while dry weather rather retards the process. The young 
molt five times, at intervals of 
from twelve to twenty days, ac- 
cording to the condition of the 
weather. Dry weather with 
hot days retards, while damp 
or wet weather favors, this 
process among insects by keep- 
^hT^ ni £ t Qe exuviae pliable during 
FlQ.7.—Melano2)lusrobustus— natural size (original). Hioltillg, as Well aS ill furnish- 
ing the necessary moisture re- 
quired in growth. The winged or mature insects appear about the 
middle of July or a little earlier and begin to copulate soon afterward, 
thus completing the cycle. 
"Their mode of attack does not differ greatly from that of M. spretus, 
save in that the latter begin upon the crops immediately after hatch- 
ing, while this species does not. They wait until they are from three 
to four weeks old before venturing far from the places of hatching. 
Like that species they have the habit of huddling together upon plants 
and among grasses and debris during cool nights and cloudy days. 
This appears to be a trait common to all iusects when present in large 
numbers, and must be the result of some special instinct. When about 
half grown the larvae become pretty well scattered over the fields and 
do not hop back to the weed patches on the outskirts in the evening, as 
they do while younger and when beginning their attacks upor the 
crops. The molting rs the same as with other locusts, and need not be 
described here. The grown hoppers do not migrate by flight, but do 
sometimes move in concert in certain directions by jumping. This can 
hardly be termed migration, since the change of location is merely per- 
formed for the purpose of obtaining food, while the act of migrating is 
toward obtaining more decided results. When feeding they can be 
driven like other locusts, and this trait in their nature has been taken 
advantage of at different times and by many of the planters as a means 
of partial protection to crops. " 
