The Ebensburg Alleghanian. [volume] (Ebensburg, Pa.) 1865-1871, 1866-06-28
The EOCEsSaS.

Ihe name locust Is derived tlom Latin,
locus place, and astus, burned, from the
resemblance of districts ravaged by them
to region desolated by fire.
The "seventeen-ycar locusts," as they
are generally termed by a large portion OF
the people, are appearing in various parts
of the country. History does not bear
out the popular theory, however, that
there is an exact interim Of seventeen
years between their appearance. We have
an account given in the history Of South
Africa, when the ravages of these fell
destroyers extended through a period of
seven years, making their appearance at
the Glen Lynden Colony in 1924, disap-
pearing ct the close of the year 1880,
after almost entirely destroying everything
green on the face of the earth. The
same section was again laid waste in 1889,
aud again in 1850. The celebrated locust
Of the East, (Iocusta migratoria of Linnae-
us,) which includes one Of the fifteen
American species described by Dr. Harris,
is about two and half inches long, Of
greenish color obscurely spotted, with
pale brown wing covers marked with
black. The extremity of the body in the
female is provided with four short wedge
shaped pieces, arranged in pairs, and
moving up and down like double nippers !;
these are forced into the ground, enlar-
ging the hole as they are opened aud
Withdrawn, until it is deep and large
enough to receive the eggs. The males
make loud nuise by rubbing their hind
legs across the projecting veins of the
wing covers, like playing upon a violin,
tho cnnn1 boinCr IntapciHo1 hy,
cavity in the first abdominal segment
The hind legs are very powerful, enabling
them to leap with great facility, while
| the strong and narrow wings give them
the power of rapid and long continued
flight, accompanied with a loud and whiz-
zing noise, compared to the rushing of a
whirlwird, the rattling of chariots, and
the cracking OF burning stubble.
1t is destructive in ali its forms: in the
larvaI, nymph, and perfect conditions,
feeding voraciously on plants Their
numbers are sometimes so great that riv-
| ers have been blocked and many square
miles of land covered by them, the stencil
Of their decaying bodies injecting the air
for hundreds OF miles. Messrs. Kirby
and Smith mention an army Of locusts
which ravaged the NIahratta country, ex-
ending in a column five hundred miles
long, and SO compact that it obscured the
sun like an eclipse. Many are the allu-
sions in the Old Testament to the fight
t of these insects. The prophet Joel (ch
il gives magnificent descri ption of their
! appearance "Before their faces the peo-
pie shall be much panied: all faces shall
| gather blackness. They shall run like
mighty men; they shall climb the wall
like men Of war, and they shall march
every one on his ways, and they shall not
/ break their ranks. The earth shall quake
| before them, the heavens shall tremble 4;
| the sun and the moon shall be dark, and
the stars shall withdraw their shining"
The poet Southey has strikingly de-
scribed the noise produced by their flight
and approach
"Onward they came, dark, Continuous cloud
OF congregated myriads numberless,
| The rushing of whose wings was as the sound
OF broad river head!ong in its course
Plunged from a mountain summit, or the roar
OF avid ocean in the Autumn storm,
Shattering its pillows on a shQEe of rocks"
As lccusts are the greatest destroyers
of food, so, as some recompense, they
furnish a considerable supply of it to
numerous pations-as they cause, they
are frequently the means Of preventing,
famines. In the curious account given
by Alexis of poor Athenian family's
provisions, mention Of the locust is found !:
'For us the best and daintiest cheer,
Through the bright half of the year,
Is but acorns, onions, peas,
Ochros, lupines, radishes,
Netches, wild pears, nine and ten,
With locust now and then"
The Arabs, of Morocco, esteem locusts
a great del:cacy. During the summer of