The Coconino sun., 1915-05-21
SAND|GE SAYS THESE ARE
 NOT OUR GRASSHOPPERS

John R. Sandigo, a student of the university in paper upon the gras- hopper invasion of Arizona at the present time, gives the following ac- count of the causes. Mir. Sandige has spent more time studying the insects and has worked for the government upon the matter. For the past three years he has been assistant entomol- ogist of a party of ten experts who are working upon an insect outbreak similar to the hopper one in the northern part of New Mexico a few miles from Raton. The problem un- der consideration there is that of a large caterpillar which is known as the U. s. range caterpillar. EXperi- ments are being made for its control by means of parasites imported from Germany and Japan. Mir. Sandige will leave in few weeks for Raton where he will work during the sum- mer.
 The grasshoppers now infesting the vicinity of Tucson were not matched in Arizona, but probably came from the northern part of Colorado, New Mexico or from Kansas, he says. The grasshopper is great traveller when it is necessary for it to travel for food. The average flight is about 30 miles day, but often driven by storms, they will travel distance of 300 miles during the day. AS they first commence to light on their new feeding grounds their stay is limited to two or three days, but later in the season their stay is considerably heightened and after section is once infested swarms will be seen to be constantly rising and dropping dur ing the middle of the day and flying at night around electric lights and against windows if they are in a city.
 The question has been asked, how do they become so numerous in one section that they have to migrate to another section for their food. Insect or grashopper outbreaks are con trolled by two factors-food and en- emies. The chief enemies of the gras- hopper are the Australian fungus, disease, which kills many of them, and small parasitic insects.
 The life of the grasshopper can be compared to a balance, with the grasshopper on one end and its en- emies on the other. If the enemies are about the average and the grass hoppers have the average amount of food they will not increase. But if the food supply of the grasshoppers becomes scarce for year and they also, they will greatly decrease in number. The grasshopper being the food of the parasite causes the par asite insects to decrease as they them selves decrease. If the grasshopper becomes plentiful again, and there are not many parasites to check their growth they will increase in great numbers.
 The great hordes of grasshoppers lay many eggs and consequently the next year there is still a greater in- crease and as there is not sufficient food to supply them they migrate to other sections. Arizona is now exper- fencing such an outbreak, the hop pers probably migrating from some other section of the country.
 The outbreak of grasshoppers would continue were it not for the parasitic insects which increase in large numbers when they have plenty of food. The increase of the parasites is sufficient to bring the grasshoppers back to their normal number. The Australian fungus does not kill many grasshoppers in the western part of the United States due to the dry at mosphere, so the chief protection from the hopper out here are the