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Mormon Cricket Control Circular 40 August, 1923 Mormon Cricket Control By C. L. CORKINS Office of State Entomologist COLORADO AGRICULTURAL COLLEGE Fort Collins, Colorado OFFICIAL STAFF C. P. GILLETTE ________________________ State Entomologist GEORGE M. LIST ____________________________ Chief Deputy W. L. BURNETT ____________________ Deputy, Rodent Control NEWTON BOGGS-Deputy, Apiary Inspection and Investigation J. H. NEWTON ______________ Deputy, Alfalfa Weevil Control W. L. MAY __________________________ Deputy, Weed Control WM. P. YETTER, JR. ______________________________ Deputy C. L. CORKINS ____________________________________ Deputy E. ROBERTS _______________________________________ Clerk The Mormon-Cricket-control campaign reported ·in this circular was made possible by the personal efforts of Gov­ ernor Wm. E. Sweet, and the officers of the Denver Civic and Commercial Association in raising the necessary funds for its support, by a subscription of $2000 by the Southwest­ ern Division of the American Red Cross, by financial contri­ butions from Moffat and Rio Blanco Counties, and, perhaps most important of all, by the contributions of a very large amount of time and labor by the people in the infested dis­ trict. If any of the above-mentioned co-operating parties had failed us, the work could not have been successfully carried through. C. P. GILLETTE, State Entomologist. MORMON CRICKET CONTROL~ By C. L. CORKINS, Deputy State Entomologist. The first record of this insect as an agricultural pest was in 1847 during the early settlement of Utah by the Mormons. Because these 'hoppers were black and somewhat of the general appearance of a cricket, the common name of "Mormon Cricket" was then adopted and has become of universal usage. Technical­ ly speaking, however, they are wingless, long-horned locusts or grasshoppers. The invasion of this pest into the crops of the Mormons the first year was indeed disastrous. Nothing was saved. Un­ dauntedly, they planted seed the second year, but again the crick­ ets came in larger hordes than ever. With the seemingly inev­ itable loss of another crop, the people faced starvation. At this juncture, sea gulls came from off Salt Lake by the thousands and, before all the crops were devoured, completely controlled the crickets. This Mormon or Western Cricket has undoubtedly been a native of the Western Slope of our State for many hundreds of years. Some of our oldest cattlemen tell of encountering enor­ mous bands of them during the earliest days of settlement by the white man. The Ute Indians have long been familiar with this insect and have made use of it as food. Since the earliest settle­ ment of northwestern Colorado, it has intermittently been more or less of a menace. Very often, considerably more alarm has been felt on the part of the residents than the actwal loss of crops justified. In late years, with the advent of the homestead­ er and dry farming upon a large scale, the loss of crops has been more serious and the problem one of considerable importance. Outbreaks of the Mormon Cricket in the State, which have been recorded by Professor S. Arthur Johnson,** occurred dur­ ing the years 1879, 1882, 1895, 1900, 1902 and 1904. From 1904 until 1921, natural conditions have kept the crickets in check so no appreciable damage has been reported. In 1922 a scattered infestation extended from Price Creek in Moffat County to the Utah line, bounded on the north by the Bear River and on the south by the county line. The largest and thickest bands occur­ red on Blue Mountain and in the Danforth Hills. Damage to crops was partial in some instances, total in others. The loss amounted to about $15,000 to $20,000. LIFE HISTORY AND DESCRIPTIONS The Eggs.-The eggs are about one-quarter of an inch in : Anabr~s simplex Hald. Order, Orthoptera, Family, Locustidae. Bulletm 101, The Agricultural Experiment Station of the Colorado Agricul­ tural College. 4 STATE ENTOMOLOGIST OF COLORADO Their natural habitat-rugged, brushy hills, intersected by fertile, cultivated valleys, characterize the region of infestation. length, and slightly crescent shaped. When first deposited they are of a dark chocolate-brown color, but upon exposure to the air, they take on a more grayish hue. The outer surface or chorion is very thick, thus giving excellent protection. This would suggest that considerable moisture would be necessary for hatching. The eggs are laid by mature females, largely during the late summer, from the middle of July up until September. Infre­ quent oviposition by a few fel]lales may be noticed the first of July. The eggs are laid singly and are not placed in pods for protection as is the case with the common, short-horned grass­ hoppers. So far as I have observed, each female lays but one egg before .extracting her ovipositor and moving on to a new lo­ cation. The depth of oviposition very often depends upon the nature of the soil. If possible, the ovipositor of the female is inserted its full length of about one inch. When unable to force it deeper into the ground, eggs may be found right at the surface or even protruding. For egg-laying a somewhat firm, yet not very hard soil, us­ u~lly rather free from roots, is selected. The barren slopes of .coulees and hills, open spots among the sage brush, roads and fields that have recently been stirred are favorite places. Altho MORMON CRICKET CONTROL 5 loose sand may be used for oviposition, hard, rocky soil, as is sometimes supposed, is not often selected. Normally, egg-laying is common in the early forenoon and the late afternoon. On cool, cloudy days, crickets may be found ovipositing freely at most any time. A female may deposit sev­ eral hundred eggs during the course of the season. The Nymphs.-During the latter half of April and the first half of May, the eggs hatch into "baby crickets" known as nymphs. Except that these are only about a quarter of an inch in length, they very much resemble the adult insect. They are coal-black in general color, with a broad, light-cream stripe down the back and a similar, narrower, oblique stripe on the side of the prothorax. Upon feeding, growth must naturally take place. Since the body covering is hard and will not stretch, they must necessarily shed their skin to accommodate growth. To accomplish this, the cricket will crawl up onto some sort of vegetation and hang by its legs with the head down. By muscular contortions, the old body covering is split down the back, the head and thorax pull­ ed out of the jacket, and the abdomen and legs freed by muscular activity aided by the force of gravity. In the course Qf a few minutes, the insect drops to the ground, immaculate, in a new and larger coa-t of pinkish brown. At first it is so soft that it will scarcely support the muscles. It soon becomes hardened and darkened in color by the air and sun. The old skin, a parchment like effigy, is left dangling from the object upon which the insect rested. This process· is termed molting. Molting occurs every week or ten days, dependi~ng upon weather conditions, until the. adult stage is reached, after which no further growth or molting takes place. In these various stages, the nymphs may vary considerably in color, being black, brownish or even green with cream markings. The Adult.-Late in June and during early July, the adult crickets appear. After the last molt, they are at first brown in ....__, Young of the Mormon Cricket, (Anabrus simplex), only a few hours from the egg. Enlarged six times. M. A. Palmer, ,Delineator. Original in Colo. Exp. Sta. Bul. 101. 6 STATE ENTOMOLOGIST OF COLORADO color but soon become coal-black. The males have wing pads sufficiently developed so they may chirp or stridulate, and the females have a sword-shaped ovipositor on the end of the abdomen about an inch long The body, excluding antennae and ovipositor, varies from one fo one and a quarter inches in length. The insects are now sexually mature and will soon copulate and begin ·laying eggs. Thus the life cycle is completed, making Q;ne generation each year. HABITS Food.-The Mormon Cricket is practically omnivorous, dis­ playing a widely diversified appetite. It is both herbivorous .and carnivorous, tho by far the greater proportion of its normal food Upper: Male of the Mormon Cricket roosting on sage brush. Lower left: Male and female courting. Lower right: female oviposlting. Original in State Entomologist Circular No. 36. MORMON CRICKET CONTROL 7 is vegetable. It seems to be especially fond of moisture and shows preference for succulent foods. We know of no agricultural plant that is immune from at­ tack. Garden crops are. especial favorites, particularly onions. All cereal and cultivated forage crops are devoured with great relish. Of the native plant foods, lupine and other wild legumes and tender weeds are preferred. Sage brush, buck brush, scrub oak, willQws and service berries may be attacked. Little damage is done to blue-stem, the most important native grass. Ordinarily the foliage of this plant is injured but little, tho the seed may be entirely eaten. However, with a heavy infestation, more se­ rious defoliation of blue-stem may occur. On the whole, the greatest loss of native pasture is the destruction of the lupine. Of its many foods, both animal and vegetable, a fellow cricket who has become weakened, inj ur­ ed or has died, se2ms to be first choice. Whethet or not the victim is dead, seems to make little dif­ ference. Ofttimes the abdomen will be partial­ ly eaten away tho the sufferer was still mak­ ing protestations by the chirping of its wings.
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