42 
. / 
The developments of the summer justified the prediction just 
mentionsd. No injury was reported, and the locists v:, ere remarkably 
scarce throughout the region indicated. 
THE CAUSES OF NEEDLESS ALARM. 
While in Peoria county late in March I heard occasional rumors 
of the appearance of numbers of grasshoppers, but investigation 
showed that such rumors were usually founded upon the occur¬ 
rence of one or two specimens, generally about woodlands. A 
little later, in Knox county, I heard a similar report, being informed 
that a farmer of unquestionable reliability had seen grasshoppers 
frequently in his meadow, and had specimens in his possession. 
On visiting the gentleman I found that the statement was indeed 
true, but that the insects were half-grown specimens of the com¬ 
mon green-striped locust, Tragocephala viridifasciata. In the 
meadow where these had been taken, half grown individuals were, 
at the time of my visit, not uncommon, hopping about on the 
grass, although the ground, in many parts of the field, was cov¬ 
ered with snow. 
Specimens of the same locust were received April 9 from Mr. 
R. C. Davis of Peoria county, who wrote that they were very 
common in the woods about five miles north of French Grove. 
The fact that this insect hibernates in the larval state has long 
been known to entomologists. Dr. Harris in writing of it nearly 
years ago remarked:* “The larvae or young survive the 
winter sheltered among the roots of grass and under leaves.” And 
Dr. Riley has noted! that they are often the cause of unnecessary 
alarm concerning the visits of the Rocky Mountain locust, reports 
of the early hatching of this notorious species being based upon 
the presence of the young green-striped locusts during the mild 
weather of early spring. 
This green-striped locust can be easily distinguished from either 
the red-legged or olive locust by the peculiar keel-shaped form of 
the thorax and by the broad green stripe on the anterior wings. 
“Like so many other species of its family it occurs in two welt- 
marked varieties, one in which, in addition to the stripes on tife 
front wings, the whole body and l^ind thighs above are pea green; 
the. other in which this color gives way to pale brown. In both 
varieties the hind wings are smoky with the basal third greenish.”J 
At the time of my last visit to the infested region (June 4 and 
5) much apprehension prevailed concerning the seeming great 
probability of another locust attack. It was commonly believed 
that the pests were hatching by millions, but investigation soon 
.showed that this also was a case of mistaken identity, the supposed 
* Insects Injurious to Vegetation. 3rd ed., p. 183. 
tFirst Rep. U. S. Ent. Com., p. 255. 
-t Riley: First Rep. U. S. Ent. Com., p. 256. 
