THE SHARP-HEADED GRAIN LEAFHOPPER. 3 



the stems and leaves, especially along the midribs, of grains, grasses, 

 and alfalfa. Their feeding causes very young alfalfa plants to grow 

 slim and spindling. 



Another form of injury is produced by the adult female in punc- 

 turing and constructing in leaves and stems the pockets for ovi- 

 position. A slit is made in the leaf or stem, and the eggs are thrust 

 through this slit under the epidermis. These egg pockets cause a 

 distortion of the surrounding plant tissue which later turns yellow. 

 "When four or five egg pockets are made in a single leaf of a young 

 grain plant the injury resulting to the leaf is quite marked, and 

 when several leaves on the same plant, as is often the case, are so 

 affected, the entire plant is bound to be more or less injured. 



The third mode of injury is caused by spores of fungous diseases 

 gaining entrance to the plant tissue through the feeding punctures 

 and egg-pocket slits. It is more than probable, but as yet has not 

 been positively determined, that -jassids themselves carry and dis- 

 seminate the spores of rust and other fungous diseases. 



DISTRIBUTION. 



As Prof. Osborn has noted, 1 this jassid has an extremely wide 

 distribution. In this country it ranges from the Atlantic to the 

 Pacific and from the strictly boreal portions of Canada south into 

 Mexico. It has been recorded by assistants of the Bureau of En- 

 tomology from 35 States, representing all sections of the United 

 States excepting New England, where, although in all probability 

 it occurs, no available records show its presence... 



FOOD PLANTS. 



The author has taken the nymphs and adults in large numbers 

 from wheat, barley, oats, alfalfa, bur clover (Medicago denticulata) , 

 sour clover (Melilotus indica), Johnson grass (Sorghum Jialejpense) , 

 wall barley (Hordeum murinum), and many other native grasses of 

 the south and southwest. The adults alone have been observed feed- 

 ing upon kafir corn, sorghum, cowpeas, vetch, and Bermuda grass. 

 In addition to this list Prof. Osborn reports * having taken the 

 species from rye, bluegrass, and brome grass. Other assistants of 

 the Bureau of Entomology have noted the species as feeding on corn 

 and timothy. If. is very likely that a complete list of food plants 

 would include several other cultivated crops and innumerable weeds. 



DESCRIPTION. 

 The following is a copy of the technical description (TcUigonia 



mollipes) by Say, published in 1831: 



Bod yellow; bead elongated, acute before; beneath the eyes a brown line, which 

 contained on the pectus; fchoraa green, a broad anterior and lateral yellow margin; 



1,! C< 



i Op. 'ii., p, 67, 



