‘62 
The Queenslafid Naturalist. 
J in., 1926 
During the diy season loeusts cause a terrific 
.amount of damage throughout the Islands. Flights often 
darken the sky for hours. When they have passed by, 
the ground is bare and brown; shrubs and trees are 
stripped of their leaves and branches, and broken down 
tvhere masses of the feeding insects have settled. Con- 
irol is at present largely in the liands of local authori- 
ties, and their main activity is the driving of the locusts 
to the next community. As soon as a flight arrives, the 
inliabitants, men, women and children, turn out with 
tins and sticks and head them off with the noise. The 
banging certainly has the effect of keeping the locusts 
moving, but only ])ostpones their settling for the time 
being. T tried the following experiment on a number of 
the insects caught during such a flight. The locust was 
tied to a piece of thread so that his flying would not be 
interfered Muth, and released, the other end of the thread 
being held. The result was tliat it flew round in a circle 
and tlie rate of flight could be calculated from the num- 
ber of circles completed per uuit time, and the diameter 
of the circle. The (diiiiese houseboy then beats a tin 
at a short distance away. The increase in speed of the 
locust flight was indicated by the increase in diameter 
of the circle, and was calculated as before. A number of 
experiments were carried out in the same way, and the 
figures averaged. The normal rate of flight was 3.4 
miles per hour, whereas the rate when the tin was banged 
was 0.2 miles per hour. The idea of tying the insect 
Avith a piece of thread is by no means original. The 
native children kee]) loexists, butterflies, and small birds 
tethered in tlie same way. 
When the loeusts settle on a held, an immense number 
of eggs are deimsited, and when these hatch the ground 
may be almosi black with hoi>pers. These are generally 
surrounded by a cordon of men wlio slowly di'ive them 
into a pit six or eight feet deep, by beating the ground 
with bushes. The living mass is then tramped down and 
covered with earth. Locusts are a favourite article of 
diet amongst the lower classes of Filipinos. They are 
collected in quantity either by netting during flights or 
by shaking from the branches on which they settle at 
right. They are killed by immersion in boiling water, 
and are then fried and salted. Wings, legs and heads 
are removed before eating. The flavour is somewhat like 
that of almonds. 
