70 LEAFHOPPERS AFFECTING CEREALS, ETC. 
such numbers as some of the other species, it can hardly be over- 
looked in a discussion of the species of economic importance. It was 
recognized and described by Say nearly a century ago and has had 
quite frequent mention in scientific papers, but no discussion of habits 
or description of early stages until 1897, when it was treated in a 
paper on the species occurring in Iowa. 
The adult insect (fig. 9) is distinguished by a remarkably long, 
pointed head, and narrow, elongate face, a brownish-gray color, with 
very numerous round white points on the wings and with a row of 
black cross-veins on the border. It is about one-fifth inch in length. 
The larvee are similar to the adults in shape, having a very much 
elongated head, narrowing to an acute point, and when full grown 
they are about one-sixth inch long. They are characterized particu- 
larly by a broad light stripe along the back, passing from the tip of 
Fia. 9.—The sharp-nosed leafhopper (Platymelopius acutus): a, Adult; b, vertex and pronotum; ec, face; 
d, female genitalia; e, male genitalia; f,elytron. Allenlarged. (Original.) 
the head across the thorax, where it widens, and narrowing on the 
base of the abdomen and expanding on the central part and again 
on the extreme tip. This stripe is bright red on the center and shades 
into a creamy white on the margin. It is sometimes divided on the 
abdomen into two spots, one on the central portion and another at 
the tip. A black stripe extends along each side the entire length of 
the body, the stripes meeting below the tip of the head. It includes 
numerous minute white spots underneath a creamy white. 
The young are first noticed during the latter part of May and 
mature before the end of June, the adults beginning to appear by 
the middle of June and continuing until the middle of July, the nymphs 
of the second generation appearing in July and maturing in August, 
while the adults of this second generation are found from the middle 
of August until into October. Apparently these lay eggs in autumn, 
which survive the winter to hatch in spring. The young are found 
in grassland, but more commonly in shady situations, and the adults 
are to be found quite generally distributed on different kinds of 
