Locust (43 page)

There are no detailed biographies of Cyrus Thomas or Alpheus Packard, but a genuine appreciation of these men’s lives can be gleaned from Arnold Mallis’s
American Entomologists
(1971) and
History of Entomology
(1973), edited by R. F. Smith, T. E. Mittler, and C. N. Smith. As in the “inside scoop” on Riley that L. O. Howard provided in his
History of Applied Entomology
(1930), there are many interesting anecdotes that he
provides with regard to Thomas and Packard. An especially valuable perspective on the life of Thomas, his intriguing associations with nineteenth-century luminaries, and his contributions to the field of anthropology was assembled by Jon Muller of Southern Illinois University’s Department of Anthropology and can be accessed at
siu.edu/~anthro/muller/Thomas/Thomas.html
. Some of Thomas’s most important scientific works have been reprinted and are available but a bit hard to find. For the serious scholar or intensely curious reader, Packard’s papers (including letters, lectures, and sermons) are conserved in Bowdoin College’s George J. Mitchell Department of Special Collections and Archives. Packard’s
Lamarck: The Founder of Evolution; His Life and Work: With Translations of His Writings on Organic Evolution
was reprinted in 1980 and is reasonably available along with some of his natural history works that also have been reprinted at various times.

I must admit to having relied on a Web site for the majority of my biographical information about Norman Criddle and his family, but what a Web site! The Canadian government’s Digital Collections Program has conserved local histories, and Criddle’s story can be explored at
collections.ic.gc.ca/wawanesa/E/people/criddles/criddles.html
. Grasshopper outbreaks in the twentieth century are not collated in any coherent manner, although accounts of particular events can be found in A. Gibson’s “The Control of Locusts in Eastern Canada” (Dominion of Canada’s Department of Agriculture Circular No. 5, 1915); H. C. Severin and G. I. Gilbertson’s “Grasshoppers and Their Control” (South Dakota State Agricultural Experiment Station Bulletin No. 172, 1917); W. W. Henderson’s “Crickets and Grasshoppers in Utah” (Utah Agricultural Experiment Station Circular 96, 1931), R. C. Smith’s “An Analysis of 100 Years of Grasshopper Populations in Kansas” (
Transactions of the Kansas Academy of Sciences,
57(4), 1954), and C. Wakeland’s, “The High Plains Grasshopper” (USDA Technical Bulletin No. 1167, 1958). The best overall synthesis of grasshopper biology, ecology, and management—including information on
Melanoplus sanguinipes
and
femurrubrum—
is unquestionably R. E. Pfadt’s “Western Grasshoppers” (
Wyoming Agricultural Experiment Station Bulletin
912, 3rd edition, 2002, with an on-line version at
sdvc.uwyo.edu/grasshopper/
).

A rich source of information on Sir Boris Uvarov is the
Biographical Memoirs of the Fellows of the Royal Society
(Vol. 17, 1971). Uvarov’s seminal works were the two volumes of
Grasshoppers and Locusts: A Handbook of General Acridology
(1966 and 1977). His revolutionary paper on the phase theory of locusts was published as “A Revision of the Genus
Locusta
, L. (=
Pachytulus
, Fieb.), with a New Theory as to the Periodicity and Migrations of Locusts” (
Bulletin of Entomological Research,
12[2],135-163). Faure’s efforts to transform
M. sanguinipes
are reported in “The Phases of the Rocky Mountain Locust
Melanoplus mexicanus
” (
Journal of Economic Entomology,
26, 706-718, 1933). Brett’s corresponding work appeared as “Interrelated Effects of Food, Temperature, and Humidity on the Development of the Lesser Migratory Grasshopper,
Melanoplus mexicanus mexicanus
” (Oklahoma Agricultural Experiment Station Technical Bulletin T-26, 1947). My morphological analysis of the locust appeared as “Taxonomic Status of the Rocky Mountain Locust: Comparisons of Morphometric Values of
Melanoplus spretus
with Solitary and Migratory
Melanoplus sanguinipes
” (
Canadian Entomologist,
121:1103-1109, 1989). The paper by Gurney and Brooks that set the modern taxonomic standard for the Rocky Mountain locust is “Grasshoppers of the
mexicanus
Group, Genus
Melanoplus”
(
Proceedings of the U.S. National Museum,
110:1-93, 1959).

The alfalfa theory was initially debunked in R. E. Pfadt’s “Food Plants as Factors in the Ecology of the Lesser Migratory Grasshopper,
Melanoplus mexicanus
” (Wyoming Agricultural Experiment Station Bulletin 290, 1949). Cantrall and Young’s bison theory was put forth in “Contrasts in the Orthopteran Fauna of Grassland, Forest and Transitional Areas in Southern Indiana” (
Proceedings of the Indiana Academy of Sciences,
63:157-162, 1954). Riegert’s initial version of the bison theory appeared in “A History of Grasshopper Abundance Surveys and Forecasts of Outbreaks in Saskatchewan” (
Memoirs of the Entomological Society of Canada,
52:5-99, 1968). For an excellent coverage of bison ecology, one can do no better than to read
The Bison and the Great Plains
(Animals and Their Ecosystems Series), by J. D. Taylor and D. Taylor (1992), and the definitive examination of the bison’s demise is surely A. C. Isenberg’s (2000)
The Destruction of the
Bison: An Environmental History, 1750-1920.
An outstanding and absolutely authoritative synthesis of the ecology of the Rocky Mountain West is D. H. Knight’s (1994)
Mountains and Plains
. There are innumerable books on ecology that are pertinent to the Rocky Mountain locust, and although there are many recent writings, one of the most compelling, provocative, and readable works remains T. F. H. Allen and T. W. Hoekstra’s (1992)
Toward a Unified Ecology
.

My findings from the first three glacial expeditions are presented in a series of coauthored papers: “Grasshopper Glacier: A Vanishing Biological Resource” (
American Entomologist,
36:18-27, 1990); “The Preserved Fauna of Grasshopper Glacier (Crazy Mountains, Montana): Unique Insights to Acridid Biology” (5th Proceedings of the International Meeting of the Orthopterists’ Society,
Boletin Sanidad Vegetal,
20:223-236, 1991); “Preserved Insects and Physical Condition of Grasshopper Glacier, Carbon County, Montana, U.S.A.,” (Arctic and Alpine Research, 24:229-232, 1992). Intriguing early descriptions of Grasshopper Glacier can be found in: M. W. Rivinus’s “Grasshopper Glacier” (
Frontiers,
Vol. 15, 1952); W. C. Alden’s “Grasshoppers on Ice” (
Nature
Magazine, June 1930); R. E. Hutchins’s
Grasshoppers and Their Kin
(1972); and my personal favorite, F. J. Farnsworth’s
Cubby Returns
(the relevant passage is on pp. 113-115, 1935). An exceptionally timely and well-written account of the ongoing recession of glaciers in the Rocky Mountains is D. Fagre and M. Hall’s “Modeled Climate-Induced Glacier Change in Glacier National Park, 1850-2100” (
BioScience,
53:131-140, 2003). For a more complete understanding of my idiosyncratic compulsion to understand the lives of grasshoppers, the reader is referred to my collection of essays,
Grasshopper Dreaming: Reflections on Killing and Loving
(2002).

The scientific papers that my colleagues and I authored concerning our finds on Knife Point Glacier are “The Preserved Insect Fauna of the Wind River Glaciers (Fremont County, U.S.A.): Insights into the Ecology of the Extinct Rocky Mountain Locust” (
Environmental Entomology,
23:220-235, 1994) and “Preserved Grasshopper Fauna of Knife Point Glacier, Fremont County,
Wyoming, U.S.A.” (
Arctic and Alpine Research,
23:108-114, 1991). Our work on the cuticular hydrocarbon profile of the specimens extracted from the glaciers and comparisons to museum specimens of the Rocky Mountain locust was reported in “Cuticular Hydrocarbons of Glacially-Preserved
Melanoplus
: Identification by GC/MS and Comparison with Hydrocarbons of
M. sanguinipes
and
M. spretus
” (
Journal of Orthoptera Research,
5:1-12, 1996). Some very well-written views on particular aspects of molecular genetics include Matt Ridley’s
Genome
(2000; focused on the human genome but highly readable); James Watson’s
DNA: The Secret of Life
(2003; a fascinating mixture of both science and the author’s views of modern genetics); and Lynn H. Caporale’s
Darwin in the Genome: Molecular Strategies in Biological Evolution
(2002; also focused on the human genome—rather than that of grasshoppers—but with a rich interpretation of genetics and evolution that makes an excellent counterpoint to Watson’s views).

There are many excellent historical accounts of the history, politics, and sociology of the American frontier. Perhaps the book most relevant to the time and place of the Rocky Mountain locust’s extinction is Gilbert C. Fite’s
The Farmers’ Frontier, 1865-1900
(1966). For a more complete coverage of the places and events that shaped the continent beyond the 100th meridian, Geoffrey C. Ward’s lavishly illustrated
The West
(1996) is an unbeatable read. The biology, ecology, and conservation of monarch butterflies are the subject of many children’s books, but fortunately there are a few excellent works for adults as well. Two the most engaging perspectives on this insect are
Chasing Monarchs
(1999), by Robert M. Pyle, and
Four Wings and a Prayer: Caught in the Mystery of the Monarch Butterfly
(2002), by Sue Halpern. As for ecological connections between grasshoppers and habitat qualities (particularly vegetation and soils), two papers that I coauthored with Scott Schell are somewhat technical but accessible to the scientifically literate reader: “Spatial Analysis of Ecological Factors Related to Grasshopper Population Dynamics in Wyoming” (
Environmental Entomology,
26:1343-1353, 1997) and “Spatial Characteristics of Rangeland Grasshopper Population Dynamics in Wyoming: Implications for Pest Management” (
Environmental Entomology,
26:1056-1065, 1997).

My final synthesis of the Rocky Mountain locust’s extinction was coauthored with Larry DeBrey and published as “A Solution for the Sudden and Unexplained Extinction of the Rocky Mountain Locust,
Melanoplus spretus
” (
Environmental Entomology,
19:1194-1205, 1990). Portions of the locust’s story were told in my essays in
American Entomologist
(Vol. 47, 2001),
Orion
(Summer, 2002),
Wild Earth
(Spring, 2002), and
High Country News
(February 3, 2003). Compelling views on the value of biodiversity include Norman Myers’s
The Sinking Ark
(1979), Paul and Anne Ehrlich’s
Extinction
(1981), Edward O. Wilson’s
Biophilia
(1986), Al Gore’s
Earth in the Balance
(1993)—and the least scientific and most pleasurable read in this genre, Douglas Adams and Mark Carwardine’s
Last Chance to See
(1992). My efforts to understand the moral standing of insects and the natural world can be traced in a series of papers: “Not to Harm a Fly: Our Ethical Obligations to Insects” (
Between the Species,
4:204-211, 1988); “Competing Values and Moral Imperatives: An Overview of Ethical Issues in Biological Control” (
Agriculture and Human Values,
14:205-210, 1997); “Agriculture and Biodiversity: Finding Our Place in this World” (
Agriculture and Human Values,
16:365-379, 1999); and my upcoming collection of essays,
Sacred Steppes: Finding Meaning in the Grasslands
.

Photograph of a wagon train in 1882 (from the Union Pacific Historical Collection).

Drawing of the egg-laying behavior of the Rocky Mountain locust, by Charles V. Riley (from C. V. Riley, A. S. Packard, Jr., and Cyrus Thomas,
First Annual Report of the United States Entomological Commission for the Year 1877 Relating to the Rocky Mountain Locust
[Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, 1878]).

Title page from W. Kirby and W. Spence,
An Introduction to Entomology
(London: Longman, Brown, Green, Longmans and Roberts, 1859).

Image of a swarm of the Rocky Mountain locust descending on a farm community (from a lithograph made of a sketch by Howard Purcell in 1874).

Drawing of the Flory Locust-Machine in operation (from C. V. Riley,
Destructive Locusts: A Popular Consideration of a Few of the More Injurious Locusts [or “Grasshoppers”] of the United States, Together with the Best Means of Destroying Them
[Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, 1891].

Drawing of General Edward Otho Cresap Ord (from the History Central Web site).

Photograph of Charles Valentine Riley (from Arnold Mallis,
American Entomologists
[Rutgers, N.J.: Rutgers University Press, 1971]).

Drawing of a trio of settlers battling the Rocky Mountain locust with nets (from
Frank Leslie’s Illustrated Newspaper
, September 1, 1888, vol. 67, p. 37, with permission of the Minnesota Historical Society).

Photograph of Norman Criddle studying at a table (from Canada’s Digital Collections Program, Industry Canada, Ottawa).

Drawing of the molting process of the last nymphal stage into the adult of the Rocky Mountain locust, by Charles V. Riley (from C. V. Riley, A. S. Packard, Jr., and Cyrus Thomas,
First Annual Report of the United States Entomological Commission for the Year 1877 Relating to the Rocky Mountain Locust
[Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, 1878]).