Vol. XXvii] ENTOMOLOGICAL NEWS. I73 



Some new Species of Athysanus and Related Genera 

 (Homoptera). 



By E. D. Ball, Logan, Utah. 



In working with the leaf hoppers the writer has found that 

 the species are as a rule either confined to a single plant or else 

 to a group of closely related plants. The few exceptions to 

 this rule include many of our most injurious species. These 

 forms being able to change from one plant to another are not 

 restricted in location or season. Fortunately for us the num- 

 ber of these polyphagous forms is very small compared with 

 the total number of leaf hoppers. Some of our most injuri- 

 ous species are on the other hand very restricted in their food 

 habits. The grape leaf hoppers and beet leaf hoppers are ex- 

 amples of the latter class. The beet leaf hopper is a striking- 

 example of a rare and almost unknown insect becoming a seri- 

 ous pest under the influence of civilization. This insect is a 

 native of the alkali deserts of the Southwest and was unknown 

 imtil 1895. Soon after this, sugar beet raising was introduced 

 into the region and this insect quickly transferred its affections 

 from the desert plants of the beet family to the beets them- 

 selves, causing losses running into the millions of dollars in 

 favorable seasons. 



The writer is attempting to work out the food plants of all 

 the leaf hoppers of the Western region, and in doing so has 

 discovered a number of new forms that must be named before 

 they can be included in the list. 



The types of these new species are in the writer's collection. 



Athysanus calvatus n. sp. 



9 . Resembling symphoricarpae, but with a broader and much more 

 inflated vertex and front. Straw color. Length 5 mm. 



Vertex distinctly broader than in symphoricarpae, the apex obtusely 

 roundly inflated, about two-thirds the length of the pronotum ; front 

 very broad, much inflated, the margins only slightly narrowing until 

 just before the apex, where they are abruptly constricted to the clypeus. 

 As seen in profile the apex of the front is distinctly above the clypeus 

 and bulges so that it meets the rounding vertex margin at almost a 

 right angle. Elytra rather long, venation simple, as in vaccinii, often 

 an extra nervure or two on clavus to the suture and occasionally an 

 extra cell in the outer anteapical, apical cells long. Female segment 



