The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1889-06-11
90 LOCUST SUE 20 COME.
,us in New Jersey Some Time This
Week.
FI-ona ne Nelg Yorl: Times.

+ba seveateea-year locust which ensomolo-
r;s,s have teen predicting this week over
~ Jersey, Lolg Island, Staten Island.
I'D Southeastern Pennsylvania. before
Univ l. has not created that consteTa-
son among farmers that it would
have done few years ago. In
many parts of the district likely to be af-
f.,,ei the farmers have become quite skep-
tieaI. some even repuiiating the prediction,
sad declaring that the locusts' time for re-
t,-ning is several years distant. For a
week past, local jersey papers have con-
Gained so many predictions and cOntradic-
tio1s that reporter yesterday called upon
Prof. John B. Smith, state entomologisJ of
New Jersey, whose headquarters are at
Rutgers college, New Brunswick.
Prof. Smith was the first OF TIE scientists
- rredict the visit of the cicsda this year.
He has been an expert on the habits and
disposition of this insect for many years
Ua has been attached successfully to the
dsra ,tIneBt of ag Aultare and the Smith
s7nian Institution, and he has made extern
Sive preparat ions to note the arrival, be-
bevi6r and movements of the locust
throughout New Jersey and Long Island.
Prof. Smith said:
"On my return Monday evening from a
weeks field work | learned that there had
been a question raised as to the accuracy of
nv statements that the cicada, or locusts,
wo1ld appear in New Je sey during the
nras3nt year. Letters received seem to
SHOW. according TO Observers reckonings,
that this is not locust year. These critics
90 upon the assumption that seventeen
years must elapse between appearances, and
that locust year is everywhere the same.
As matter of fact, twenty-five
broods of. these insects have
been established and studied by
Prof. Riley, the United States entomoiogist,
who has observed them for years past. 1t
is locust year almost annually in some parts
OF the United States. The trouble has
been in the past that the people have not
been sufficiently acquainted with these in
sects to note precisely when they did appear
uDIess they came in very large broods, and
considerable uncertainty, therefore, exists
as ID their extent One Of these uncertainty
defined broods is due this year and is seized
ued for the Atlantic counties of New Jersey.
II may add that Prof. Riley accords four
broods of this insect to New Jersey,
namely, broods s, IL, II, and g. OF these
brood viii make it appearance this year,
having last complimented US by its presence
in 1872, and previous to that in 1855 Prior
to 1872 the line of appearance from avail
able reports were given as Southeastern
Massachusetts,, across Long Island, along
the Atlantic coast to Chesapeake bay, and
I'D the Susquehanna TO a point opposite
Carlisle in Pennsylvania, in Kentucky, West
Virginia and Gallipolis, Ohio, on the Ohio
river. In 1872, from all reports obtainable.
the following localities were given by
Prof. Riley: Upon reviewing the localities
of this brood, as now ascertai2ed, we find
that they represent comparatively mar
row curve, with the ends pointing north
ward. The northeastern extremity COM
mences in Southeastern Massachusetts,
thence south to Long Island, thence west
through Pennsylvania, Southern Ohio, and
Northern Kentucky to Southern Indiana,
the1ce again Banding northward, a ID
reaching Central Illinois to the north
western extremity ....
This" said Prof. Smith, ''for present
purposes, was enough to show the line
through New Jersey, and we also have the
more detailed statements given by observers.
There is no definite recording Of any New
Jersey locality This desire to establish
during the present year. 1t is not at all
likely that the line definitely marked on
Long Island and Southeastern Pennsylvania
should be broken in New Jersey, and L con-
fdently expect their appearance"
Speaking of the other broods, Prof
Smith said No. 10 appeared in 1877 and will
again in 1894 They were then observed
and defini ely recorded in Hudson, Bergen,
Essex, Middlesex. and Camden counties,
and less definitely recorded at other points
throughout the state. Brood No. II an-
peared in 1851 and will appear again in
1898 1t was definitely recorded from
Essex county, but appears to be of
but small extent and not numerous.
Brood No. % appeared in 1885,
and was very carefully studied. Definite
reports were received from Burlington,
Camden, Mercsr, Middlesex, Monmouth,
Morris, Passaic and Somerset counties.
Negative reports wore received from Ocean
county. This brood will appear in 1902
'From all this" said the professor, sit is
certain that the brood due this year is at
least fully recorded, no single definite
locality being given. Its line, however,
runs across the state somewhere to connect
the New York and Pennsylvania sections
with the whole, and where that line is
hope to discover"
farp
"Ihave had reports of three specimens.
one about ten days ago from Princeton,
and this morning I heard of another at
Falmyra, and l Havs received the reports
that they have been seen at Harper's
Ferry. The cool weather has no doubt
Kept them in the ground, for they GER
talnly would have come out with rush
had we not had this cold wave. | don't
look for very heavy brood inNew Jersey,
Gut II am able to obtain satisfactory
report of them in the state it will be all that
would ask
how soon do you expect them to give
an account of themselves?~
think by by the end of the present
week We will hear from them from some of
tne Atlantic counties of this state, and GER
taniy from Long Island. The 1877 brood
Is more wildly remembered by the farmers
oecanse OF its great numbers. In 1885
was attached to the department of agricul-
t9re, and was directed by Prof. Riley TO
visit Long Island and mako study of the
clcsda. | went TO Prospect park, Brooklyn,
ana followed the line alogg TIE Coney
Island road, where I found tnet the spar
Io%s were destroying the eggs in great
Quantities. Prof. Riley informed me that
Mnel the Insects appeared in the grounds Of
eAe Smithsonian Institution the sparrows
aggregated in large bodies and made ter
.iAc onslaught; but there we're more eggs
..la1 sparrows. and the work of destruc-
In Brooklyn.n
Is the seYenteen-year locust as de-
''I,ucuve as it is represented to beP'
w. People confuse the cicada with the
- asSnopper Thsse insects belong to two
eI~Ieiy different orders The cicada is not
~ al destructive except whore it lays its
eesss' The grasshopper eats everything
;.'@V cones in its way. The cicada has no
fTaa"s-only beak, the same as the bedbug
- :. can't eat foliage; in fact, it can eat
HuL very little If sinnlv Dunctures