LAWSON : KANSAS CICADELLID.^. 15 



been infested by them, for the former seems to show a dis- 

 tinctly higher percentage of protein and fat than the latter. 

 If further investigations along this line confirm this, it makes 

 the case against the leaf hoppers even more serious. 



Attention should be called at this point to the fact that all 

 the above figures apply only to the cultivated forage crops. 

 Pastures are injured fully as much, if not more, than all the 

 cultivated crops. But even if we apply the same figures as the 

 above, and accuse the leaf hoppers of reducing the value of the 

 pastures by ten per cent, we add to their debt a tremendous 

 figuie, for the value of such pastures is very great. 



The species concerned in damaging forage crops are many, 

 but several stand out as distinctly more serious than the rest. 

 Seriously injurious to the leguminous crops is AceratagalUa 

 sanyirbiolcnta, commonly called the clover-leaf hopper. Gib- 

 son states that as many as 600 of these have been counted on a 

 single plant, and that aside from the drain upon the plant the 

 egg punctures cause gall-like formations in the surrounding 

 tissue. Empoasca mail is also accused of being sometimes in- 

 jurious to this crop. Drseculacephala mollipes is to be consid- 

 ered a serious pest of grasses as well as of grains. Others of 

 great importance are Deltocephalus inimicus, affinis, saiji, balli, 

 Euscelis exitiosus, Phlepsius irroratus, and Cicadula 6-notata. 

 All the above are very common in Kansas. In some parts of the 

 country Drseculacephala reticulata and novehoracensis, Delto- 

 cephalus co7ifiguratus, Acocephalus striatus and albifrons, and 

 Helochara communis, the last in low lands, are also considered 

 as more or less injurious to grasses. In central and western 

 Kansas the native pastures, composed largely of Bouteloua and 

 Buchloe, are very heavily infested with various species of the 

 genus Aconura. 



Coming now to the relation of leaf hoppers to the grain 

 crops, we find many instances where wheat, oats, corn, rye, and 

 barley have been injured. In Bulletin 108 of the United States 

 Department of Agriculture, Professor Osborn gives a list of 

 recorded serious damage by these insects. The sharp-headed 

 grain leaf hopper, Drseculacephala mollipes, is undoubtedly the 

 most serious of such forms, but such species as Drseculacephala 

 reticulata, Deltocephalus ini77iicus, Euscelis exitiosus, and Ci- 

 cadula 6-notata have also been recorded as doing some damage. 



The damage to orchards, vineyards and gardens is perhap.s 



