Daily Republican., 1885-05-15
THE IL YEAR LOCUsTS.

| IOoNhoyt ! a., WIlLob 10 Tue eultOr OF int
Doyiestown Democrat as follows
Seventeen years ago wrote you q
description Of the locusts, wherein
stated they would appear in 1888, and
no sooner, which you 80 kindly pub
lished in your paper Of the i2th o,
May, 1868, and now 1885 ia here. and
the locusts will be here too, and they
will make their appearance every Ii
years, the time therefore ia MP. The
| writer thereof has had the opportnnity
OF seeing them four times, viz in 1917
1884, 1851, and 1868, aBd out OF curiosi
~ he was lead to watch their move
ments In 1851 and 1868.
Ihey will appear again in this month
or May, 1885, about the 23d or Oath
day, or perhaps few days sooner OF
later, owing to the weather, cold OIL
warm. They also appear one or two
days sooner on the sunside of hill
than on the north. They will open a
small round hole up through the sur.
race OF the ground about two days be
| fore they come out, in order, suppose,
to get naturalized to the air. Then In
the afternoon, about one and q half or
two hours before sunset, thoy will
make their appearance on the top of the
ground, and the first thing they can
reach to climb up, whether brush,
tree, stake. grass, or anything else
strong enough to bear them, they will
climb up from one to two, or even as
high as twelve feet from the ground.
AS soon as they are satisfied as to the
height they can 60, they fasten their
little feet. When this Is done they i'm.
mediately begin to open on the back
from head to butt. This process goes
on slowly, and 1t takes twenty i've
minutes to work the head and six legs
out OF the shell. AS soon as this In done
It let's itself back, hanging At about
right angle with It's old shell, apps-
q wnile hs TO be unable to help itself.
In this position it remains forty fl ve
minutes, and when 1t has gained
strength, reaches up, gets hold of its
old shell with its two front feet and
draws itself up ON top of 1t, aud ut the
same time draws out its butt end. This
done, imme ediately its wings begin to
grow, or enlarge from mere nothing to
the size they get, which takes exactly
ten minutes. They keep coming up out
of the ground every afternoon at the
above hours, ard also in the morning
until the sun Is up about one and q half
or two hours, and at no other time
in the day until about the 7th of June,
when no more leave the eground. How
ever, in 1851, the writer observed one,
an odd one, come out on the tho 18Th
day of June.
Ia their flight, If by'chance they hap
pen to fly on pine or cedar tree, they
will not remain two minutes, but leave
| as soon as they hnd their mistake. They
commence to deposit their eggs, or nits,
in the bark of the body, but mostly In
the bark of the limbs Of all treep, ,excep,
pine or cedar, or any that contain tur-
tpentine, from about the 10Th to the 25th
Of June, which is done by cutting open
the outside bark with their stinger IN
the butt end, which they reach oui
out with and turn 1t in shape of hook
Placing this In the bark, they wall
slowly forward and plow open the barf
with H., and at the same time deposi
the eggs therein as they go.
The eggs remain there about twenty
five days, when they are Matched ant
Icome cut very small locust, go small
lit takes good eyes to see them. The,
can be seen best by magnifyipg glass
These snail locusts, as they come out @
the bark, drop to tho ground, worl
themselves into 1t, and remain there fo
seventeen years. Tho writer, by dig
Iging up tree about four years age
found some of the present coming lo
Gusts from two to two and half fee
under ground.
The coming locust will remail
with us until about the 1st c
July, and In all that time it pis nc
known that they eat anything, whe
they will die of and no moro nppea
!, forever. But those eggs or nits e
deposited and Matched into smal
locusts will appear in May, 100:
when 1t Is doubtful whether they wi
find me here. (Readers mark this.
3 Locusts are now to be seen in the groun
, from four to eight inches deep, wit
their heads upward, preparatory to tn
-Iopening through the surface. Whe
( their day appears. now soon, they ca
, Ionly be found under trees that wei
, sta ndinR seventeen years ago, or whei
4 there stood timber at that time. Their
will be fewer locusts every time they al
r pear on account of the scarcity OF timte
) and consequently they will be harde
on fruit trees. TINICUM, May l, 1888