Florida Agricultural Experiment Station


 S There are many genera and species of grasshoppers. One
of the most common and troublesome is the red-legged grass-
hopper. This is one of the smaller kinds but makes up in
numbers what it lacks in size. On flatwoods and muck lands
the lubberly locust is often troublesome. This is the largest
grasshopper in Florida. The young are black. There are two
color-forms of the adults. Some are of a striking red color
and others are almost as black as the larvae. These grasshop-
pers have very short wings and are incapable of flight.
 Grasshoppers lay their eggs in the ground in waste places
at a depth of 1 or 2 inches. Cultivation will destroy the eggs
when they are laid in cultivated land; consequently it is in
small fields surrounded by waste land that grasshoppers are
most troublesome. As the amount of land under cultivation in
a neighborhood increases, these insects become less as a pest.
 Control.-Birds, including domestic fowls, especially tur-
 keys, are very fond of grasshoppers. The general farmer
 should keep a flock of turkeys, for their insecticidal value if for
 no other reason. They would, of course, be out of place on a
 truck farm or town lot. The lubberly locust is, however, dis-
 tasteful to all birds and will not be eaten by them.
 The cheapest and most effective method of dealing with
 grasshoppers is by means of poisoned baits, of which the so-
 called Kansas formula is the best. It has proven very sat-
 isfactory wherever tried. It is
 Bran ........................................ ---.---- 20 pounds
 Paris green or sodium arsenite................ 1 pound
 W ater _....-.....--.....--....-.. ........--- ----- 2/2 gallons
 Lemons, oranges, or cantaloupes................ 3 or 4
 Syrup .......................-- -----........-- 2 quarts
 The paris green and bran should be thoroly mixed (dry).
 Lead arsenate should not be used. It does not work as well.
 The lemons should be thoroly grated or chopped very fine, rind,
 pulp, and juice, and added to the water. Moisten the bran
 with the water until the whole is damp, not sloppy, so that when
 sown broadcast over the land it will fall in small flakes. Last
 of all add the syrup and thoroly knead it into the bran. This
 should be sown in the early morning, about sunrise or before.
 Grasshoppers do not eat at night, and consequently have a
 good appetite in the early morning, and the bait should be on
 hand for their breakfast.
 If sown in small flakes over the field there will be no like-
 lihood of chickens or other domestic animals picking it up, nor