162 Zoology of Colorado 



named Platypodia putnami. J. Duncan Putnam was a brilliant 

 young entomologist, who came out to Colorado from Davenport, 

 Iowa, in the hope of recovering from tuberculosis. He discovered 

 P. putnami on some aspen trees by Clear Creek, between Floyd's 

 Hill and Idaho Springs, July 2, 1872. Although his life was cut 

 short, his Cicada still sings in the trees along our mountain creeks, 

 and serves to remind us of him. Lutz describes the song as a 

 clicking sound, about eight clicks, rapid at first, but slowing. The 

 genus Platypedia has long existed in Colorado, a species (P. 

 primigenia Cockerell) having been found fossil at Florissant. 



The Cercopidae, popularly called Spittlebugs or Froghoppers, 

 are stout small insects, the larvae of which live on plants, and are 

 covered by a mass of white froth. They are common on herbaceous 

 plants in gardens. A common species in Boulder is the Aphrophora 

 irrorata of E. D. Ball. It is nearly half an inch long, speckled 

 with gray and whitish, and with patches of rusty red. It was 

 first described as recently as 1898. 



The Membracidae, or Tree-hoppers, often assume grotesque 

 shapes, and are especially abundant in the tropics. We have a 

 few noteworthy species, such as the Buffalo Tree-hopper (Ceresa 

 bubalus), which is green and wedge-shaped, the anterior end very 

 broad and thick, with a sharp spine at each corner. I have found 

 it on sunflowers. A related species (C. basalis Walker) is smaller, 

 and black beneath. 



The Fulgoridae, now divided by authors into a series of fam- 

 ilies, are inconspicuous members of our present fauna, but in 

 Eocene times they were abundant, many of them with broad, 

 prettily marked wings, looking like moths. They have been 

 found fossil in the oil shales of Western Colorado. Such moth- 

 like forms are common today in India and other tropical countries. 

 The Cicadellidae or Jassidae abound everywhere, but are never 

 large. Some are very injurious to cultivated plants. The Sugar- 

 beet Leaf-hopper (Eutettix tenellus of Baker) is a small greenish 

 or yellowish white insect, which seems to hop, but really flies 

 when disturbed. It is the cause of great losses to the growers of 

 sugar beets, but for some reason is not especially harmful in Colo- 

 rado. It carries the organism of the curly-top disease, whereby 

 the leaves become crumpled and other serious symptoms appear. 

 Stevens (1921) estimated that the total loss from curly-top during 



