Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 12.djvu/446

* LOCUS DELICTI. 394 LOCUST. in another. For cxaniplc, if goods are stolen in New Jersey and carried by the thief into Dela- ware, the lareeiiy was committed in New Jersey, as the wrongful taking with intent to steal con- stitutes the crime. However, a State may make it a distinct statutory crime tfi knowingly bring stolen goods into the State; but in absence of such a statute such a criminal could not be pun- ished, except in the State where he originally stole the goods. However, if a man stands in New Jersey and shoots another across the line in New Vork, he is guilty of murder in the latter State, as the killing was as much there as in New Jersey. The phrase is also used in the law of torts, but is not of as great inijiortance as in criminal law, as jurisdiction of such civil causes merely depends on jurisdiction of the parties. See CBIMK; .Jl HISDILTION. LOCUS PCENITENTUE (Lat., place of re- pentance). In the Scotch law, the time within wliidi, if a jierson withdraw from a contemplated bargain or contract or repent of an intention to commit a crime, he incurs no liability. See Con- tracts : Crime. LOCUST (from Lat. kiciisia, locust, lobster)'. Any orthopterous insect of the family Acridiida;. Much confusion has arisen in the use of this term, for two reasons: The family Loeustida;, including the typical genus Locusta, are popu- larly termed 'long-horned grasshoppers'; and, on the other hand, 'locust' is given po]iularly (in the Orthoptera) only to members of the Acridii- d.-B, which are also termed 'short-horned grass- hoppers.' (See GR..ssiiofi'ER. ) In the United States a further confusion arises from the fact that the term 'locust' is applied to any member of the hemijiterous family Cicadidic, which includes the so-called seventeen-year 'locust' or periodical cicada (see CicAnA and Hemiptera) and the com- mon dog-day harvest-fly. The name, however, should be restricted to the insects of the family Acridiid:T, and is so used by all English-speak- ing people except in portions of the United States. Locusts may be distinguished from the long- horned grasshoppers and the crickets, such as the common Anahrus simplex, by the relatively short antenna;, the short ovipositor of the female, and tho long hind legs with thickened thighs. Tlicy stridulate by the friction of the rough hind legs against the wing-covers, this method differing from the stridulation of the katydids and crickets (q.v.). The wing-covers are leathery and narrow, the wings themselvei being broad, and when at rest folded like a fan. The power of flight in locusts varies with the species. Those capable of sustaining prolonged flight have large trachipal dilatations within the body. 1 he species of greatest economic importance in the United States are "the Rocky Mountain locust (.l/r/o»io/)?Hs sprrhis), the red-legged locust {3IeIanopUis femur-riihrum ), the lesser migratory locust ( Mrlnnoptus Atlantis) , the American locust {Schistocr7-rn Amcrirfiiia) , and the differential locust ( MelanopJiis differentialis) . The Old World migratory locusts belong principally to two spe- cies, Pachyljihis ntifirnloriiis and Acriditim pcrc- fjrinmn. A South American species of the gentis Acridium frequently inflicts great damage upon crops in Argentina and Chile, while in South Africa a migratory locust comes down from the north in swarms and de>troys the crops of the settlers. These few species, possessing great powers of multiplication and extended powers of flight, have been classed among the world's his- torical scourges. Karly incursions in Kuropc and North Africa are mentioned by Ororius and Saint Augustine, the latter recording a plague in Numidia which resulted in the death of 8(J0.000 men. Pliny stales that locusts came over in great swarms from Africa to Italy in his time. incursions as far north as Germany occurred in l.i.ia lasting until 1331), 1470, 1527, ir,43, lUSU. lost!, and at intervals until 1850-59. The Rocky Mountain locust of the United States formerly bred over vast areas in the Northwest and at intervals migrated in immense swarms for hundre<ls of miles bevond its usual habitat. In 1818 and 181!) that part of the country now known as Slinnesota was covered by vast swarms; in 1820 the western part of Missouri was ravaged; in 1842 they again ap- peared in iiinnesota and Wyoming, and in 1845 in 'I'exns and again in 184i). They appeared in I'tah nearly every year from 1851 to 1877. anil a portion of Utah at one time was included in the permanent breeding-grounds of this species. An unusual locust year was 1850, when the insects swarmed over Kansas and Nebraska, the western counties of Missouri and northeastern Texas, and in Iowa, Jlinnesota, Color.ndo. and Utah. In 1870 to 1871 they again began to increase, and in 1873 were very injurious. The most disastrous locust j'ear known in the United States, however, was 1874, when enormous swarms invaded the set- tled portions of the ilississippi 'alle.v west of the ninety-fourth meridian. Colorado, Nebraska, Kansas. Wyoming, Dakota, ilinnesota, Iowa, Jlissouri, New Mexico, Indian Territory, and Texas were overrun by sw;irms from the North- west, mainly from Jlontana and British America. The loss in this region was estimated at $50,000.- 000 in the actual destruction of crops. In 1875 the young insects halclied in immense numbers over an area embracing portions of Nebraska. Kansas, and Missouri, entailing destitution and suffering among a population of 750.000 people. In 1877 the young insects died in great nuniliers, and those which acquired wings flew toward the Northwest in the direction of Dakota and Mon- tana, the regiim of the jiermanent breeding- grounds. The district in which the insect was considered to breed permanently was mapped by the United States I'.iilnmological Commission in 1S77. It was stated that the area comprised about 300.000 sciuare miles. The most favorite breeding-places in this area were the river bot- toms ami the sunnr slopes of uplands or the gi-assy regions among the mountnins. ,t the same time a 'sub-permanent' breeding region in which the insects breed more or less continuously was also mapped out. When the Kiitomological Commission finished its labors in 1870 these con- clusions were praeticall.v confirmed. Since that time, however, much of that region has been greatly changed in character by settlement and bv the introduction of agriculture. The result has been that the permmient breeding-grounds of the Rocky Mountain locust have been greatly restricted, and in fact it has practically been driven beyond the borders of the United States, and now breeds freely only in portions of British Columbia. From those grounds, however, occa- sional swarms fly south into the Northwestern