LENGTH OF A SINGLE FLIGHT. 
85 
twenty miles per hour, according to the rate at which the wind they are 
on bears them. 
A day's flight may therefore be estimated at from twenty to one hun- 
dred and fifty miles. But there are numerous facts which go to prove 
that a single flight may extend much farther than the longer distance 
here given. 
Before presenting the facts bearing on this point, we desire to call 
attention for a moment to the statement so often made, as an argument 
to show their powers of prolonged flight, that they cross the Mediter- 
ranean Sea from Africa to Italy. This appears to have been first made 
by Pliny, as already quoted, to refute the theories of certain other au- 
thors, that they are unable to fly at night. Most subsequent writers, 
even down to the present day, who have alluded to this statement, ap- 
pear to have relied upon it, without for a moment questioning its truth 
and without investigation. The only other authors we have been able 
to find who appear to corroborate this assertion by additional evidence 
are Otho Frisingenses, who says they came over from Africa into Italy 
and France in 1353 and 1374, and Dor, who believes the invasion of 
1858 came from the same country. This is not only contradicted by the 
statement of Lucretiis, who, residing in that part of Europe, had the 
best opportunity of knowing the facts in the case ; but it is rendered in 
the highest degree Improbable, from the fact, as heretofore shown, that 
the only migratory species known in North Africa is A. peregrinum, 
which has never been seen in Italy, and, according to Bolivar and Lalle- 
mant, never approaches nearer to it than the Balearic Islands. We 
allude to this not only for the purpose of proving it incorrect, but also 
to show how long an erroneous statement in reference to locusts, based 
upon theory, may be accepted as true even by entomologists.* 
That locusts can and do often cross over considerable bodies of 
water is clearly shown by the fact that they reach the Canary Islands 
from the African coast ; come into Cyprus from the neighboring coasts 
of Asia Minor ; cross over the Bed Sea at least at its northern and 
southern extremities, and that A. peregrinum has been seen in the Ba- 
learic Islands, having come from Northern Africa. P. migratorius has 
also been taken in the vicinity of Edinburg, Scotland, having without 
doubt crossed over from the Continent. Statements are on record of 
swarms of the same species having been seen crossing over the Black 
Sea. Bitter asserts it, and even an official report made to the Bussian 
Government states the same thing. Yet Koppen, who has so carefully 
studied the history and habits of the locusts in Crimea and Southern 
Bussia, doubts the correctness of these statements. And the more care- 
fully these insects are studied in their native habitats and in the regions 
to which they migrate, the more we find such opinions fading away be- 
fore the facts. 
♦Kote. — I see it stated recently in a newspaper that a swarm of locusts had this season fallen on the 
shores of Italy from Africa. Whether the statement as to their appearance, let alone their nativity, 
be true has not been ascertained up to the time this goes to press. 
