A DESTRUCTIVE INSECT 
43 
A DESTRUCTIVE INSECT 
[ OCUSTS are insects famous in story. Prom a very early date down 
^ to the present they have played a part in the world worth saying 
something about. 
To merely look at a locust in a cabinet of insects one -would not, 
at first sight, think it capable of being the source of evil to mankind as 
stands on record against it. It is but a 
small creature (some species measur¬ 
ing only a quarter of an inch in length, 
while other larger species measure as 
much as five inches), and it Would not 
seem possible for it to do mischief be¬ 
yond the proportion of its bulk. 
There have been many plagues of 
various kinds of locusts, under which 
the earth has at different times groaned. 
In Egypt, Africa, Australia, and vari¬ 
ous countries of Europe and Asia the 
air has at times been laden with such 
numbers of them as to darken the sun, 
the trees have been bent by their weight, 
and the ground covered as with a 
dark cloth, while the poor people at- 
Locusts on the wing tempted in vain, by shouting, by light¬ 
ing fires, and by waving branches, to avert the attacks. At such times 
the noise of their wings and the movement of their jaws has been com¬ 
pared to the rushing sound of a broad river. They eat every green 
thing in their line of travel, and dreadful famine follow's them. 
The female locust has a strong boring organ, and with it she drills 
a hole in the open soil and there deposits her eggs. In the spring when 
the sun warms the ground the larvae creep out, in colors greenish white 
or black. It would seem at times as if the very dust of the ground had 
awakened into life. These tiny creatures begin to move by a process of 
rolling or twisting. They are sometimes called “twisters;” 
If they chance to reach the surface when conditions are unfavorable 
for their development, they build an interesting and ingenious shelter. 
They bring up from their burrows little balls of mud and place them one 
