PROCEEDINGS, 1915. 



37 



Leaf Hoppers. 



The family Jassidae furnishes us with one pest, viz., the Rose-leaf 

 Hopper (Empoa rosae L.) and the family Bythoscopidae with another 

 viz. the Black leaf Hopper (Idiocerus fitchi Van D.). 



Neither of these are of much economic importance in Nova Scotia. 



The Rose-Leaf Hopper. 



(Empoa rosae L.) 

 From our observations of last season it would appear that the above 

 insect and not its relative the Apple-leaf Hopper, (Empoasca mali) is the 

 common apple insect in this province. Though only a minor apple pest, 

 it occasionally does a certain amount of injury to nursery stock or young 

 trees. To rose bushes they are much more injurious. 



The small light yellowish nymphs of this insect feed upon the under 

 sides of the leaves and are seldom seen. They are more conspicuous in 

 the adult or winged condition, when they will hop on the slightest dis- 

 turbance. The young nymphs are incapable of hopping, though the last 

 nymphal stage possesses this power to a slight extent. When a tree or 

 bush badly infested with adult leaf hoppers is shaken the insects rise up 

 in a cloud. 



Life History. The eggs of this insect are laid by the female in the 

 fall one or two in a place, beneath the bark of the young wood, forming 

 a small blister on the surface of the bark. These eggs begin to hatch as 

 the leaf buds unfold and the insects come to maturity about four weeks 

 later. Shortly after this mating takes place and eggs are laid for a sec- 

 ond brood, which begins to hatch about a month after the first brood 

 reaches maturity. This brood matures in a little under four weeks'time 

 and lays the eggs which serve to carry the insects over the winter. 



The following tables give the details of the life-history this insect : 



TABLE 11A 

 FIRST BROOD OF EMPOA ROSAE IN THE SUMMER OF 1915. 



