THE HIGH PLAINS Grasshopper A Compilation of Facts BY CLAUDE WAKELAND, ENTOMOLOGIST Plant Pest Control Division UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE TECHNICAL BULLETIN NO. 1167 JANUARY 1958 For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, U. S. Government Printing Office FEB 11 '58 PREFACE Assembled in this publication are all the important facts we know about the High Plains grasshopper (Dissosteira longipennis (Thomas) ), and records of its occurrence and of Federal, State, and farmer-rancher efforts to control it. These facts are presented for the use of control and research workers. This information heretofore has been unavailable except to those who searched diligently and at length. Published records of the species are voluminous but scattered and sketchy. Many of the useful facts, particularly on control operations, have been recorded in unpublished official records or in newspaper stories published locally during outbreaks. This publication is intended to serve six major purposes: First, it traces the transformation in economic status of an insect species. The High Plains grasshopper, long considered as being nonmigratory and injurious only to small areas of range grass, became strongly migratory and seriously damaged range grasses and crops over an extensive region. Second, it demonstrates the latent danger of the High Plains grasshopper. Since longipennis is economically important only at intervals, the public and some entomologists forget it or discount it between outbreaks. Under the influence of a combination of favoring circumstances, the High Plains grasshopper could again increase with astounding rapidity into major outbreak proportions-if signs of its resurgence are unnoticed or ignored. The possible cost of such negligence may be estimated from results of the most recent outbreak-that of 1933-40. That outbreak had a calamitous effect on the agricultural economy of five States, demoralized the business life of towns in the infested areas, and interfered with the conduct of regular governmental functions of the States and counties involved. Third, it describes the nature of this insect enemy-its biology, distribution, range, and habitat-and defines geographical, topographical, and climatic factors that limit or favor increase and dissemination. Fourth, it shows the influence of natural enemies of longipennis. Fifth, it includes information that will help in the control of the grasshopper both during and between outbreaks. Since the habitat of longipennis is a comparatively small area, it is practicable to find population concentrations when they begin to form and to eliminate the grasshoppers at nominal cost. Injurious infestations cannot develop if population nuclei are destroyed. Should large-scale control operations again become necessary, facts to form a reliable basis for planning and conducting such operations can be gleaned from records of experience of ranchers and State and Federal agencies in control of the species during the years 1937 to 1940. |
