9, FARMERS’ BULLETIN 737. 
IMPORTANCE OF THE DAMAGE. 
Each year this leafhopper, by lessening the vitality of its food 
plants, occasions more or less damage over its entire range of dis- 
tribution, causing a positive, although not easily estimated, decrease 
in the clover and alfalfa hay crops of the country. Continued at- 
tacks often result in the loss of a considerable percentage of a single 
cutting; especially is this true in some of the central States. The 
leafhopper causes the greatest damage during the spring and early 
summer months, as the foliage is then most succulent and the tissues 
very tender, enabling even the immature leafhoppers readily to pierce - 
the skin of leaf and stem and suck the juices. The incessant drain 
from concentrated attacks causes the clover plants to wither, and 
Fic. 2.—A spot in an alfalfa field showing the spindling growth of the plants, caused by 
continued attacks of leafhoppers. (Original.) 
although they may not die, the new growth which is put forth is very 
apt to be thin and spindling (fig. 2). With alfalfa it is the first two 
crops which appear to suffer most. The drain upon alfalfa plants 
does not show as markedly as with clover, especially during a 
drought, since the alfalfa roots go deeper into the ground and the 
plant is better able to withstand adverse conditions. 
DESCRIPTION OF THE INSECT CAUSING THE DAMAGE. 
In many localities these leafhoppers are commonly known as 
“flies,” but in reality they resemble flies only in having wings, and 
because they are about the size of many small flies seen in the fields. 
The adult or parent insects (fig. 1, @) are hght gray in color, but 
have numerous dark markings which give them a mottled appearance. 
They are about one-eighth of an inch in length and half as wide. 
