REMEPIES AGAINST THE WESTERN CRICKET. 
167 
plicit observations as to the time and mode of deposition of the eggs 
have been made by Mr. Thomas. We extract the following statement 
from his notes: 
On my return from Montana, in the latter part of July, 1871, as I passed through 
Malade Valley, Northern Utah, I noticed thousands of Andbrus simplex depositing eggs. 
The female thrust her ovipositor straight down into the ground its full length. I did 
not have time to stop and watch the operation as I was in the stage. 
I am convinced from an examination of the ovaries of a number of 
Anahrus purpurascens collected on the flanks of Gray's Peak, above tim- 
ber line, in the latter part of August, that this species deposits its eggs 
in August and early in September, and that from fifty to seventy-five 
eggs are laid by the female. The eggs of this species are cylindrical 
long oval, as are those of A. simplex, which are long, with the surface 
very minutely, microscopically pitted, and pearly white. 
How they are placed in the earth, whether in sacks like those of the 
locust, is not known. The young hatch out probably rather late in the 
spring, and it is during the early stages of growth, and soon after reach- 
ing maturity, that they are most gregarious, moving about after food in 
armies, and thus proving most destructive. 
Mr. Thomas observed, June 14, 1871, little groups of young, he thinks 
from 60 to 75 in a group, evidently hatched from eggs laid by one female. 
REMEDIES. 
As the crickets usually breed in the more elevated, dry, and sterile 
region of the Western Territories, for the most part away from farms, 
their habits are not well known, as they are secluded from ordinary ob- 
servation ; hence they are only observed when full-sized and while mak- 
ing their descents upon the farms lying near the water-courses and 
irrigating ditches. When, however, fields of grain are invaded, or in 
danger of being invaded, by the crickets, ditching dry and wet, with 
the liberal use of coal-oil, is the easiest, most thorough, and practical 
remedy. This mode of destroying crickets should be put into practice 
in the same manner as recommended by the Commission in its First 
Annual Eeport. The cricket, so far as known, has done little or no mis- 
chief in Colorado, as it lives among the foot-hills and the higher mount- 
ains, far above the agricultural region. In Utah, Nevada, and Idaho, 
however, it infests cultivated regions, and in these regions, unfortu- 
nately, locusts are not fought so energetically and systematically as by 
the farmers of Colorado and the border States. Where irrigation is 
practiced it would be easy to protect fields of grain by allowing coal-oil 
to drop from a pail on the surface of the water running in the ditches. 
These, as well as all other insects, do not breathe by the mouth, but the 
air enters the body for respiration by an internal system of air-tubes 
{tracheal), through a series of air-holes or spiracles situated along the 
sides of the body. If a film of oil covers these holes the insect is choked 
to death, i. e., becomes suffocated, and speeddy dies. Hence the use of 
