26 BULLETIN 964, U. S. DEPAETMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



insect. There are objections to this measure, however, particularly 



in fields having a good stand. Much labor and expense are required 



to make a seed bed and to crop the land, and a measure which would 



involve repetition of these operations would tend to discourage the 



growing of alfalfa. 



SUMMARY. 



One of the most striking hemipterous forms of the family Capsidae 

 is the garden flea-hopper, Halticus citri Ashm. The male adult has 

 the typical capsid form with long wings, while the female adult 

 differs in appearance, being wingless with a convex robust figure 

 suggesting to the observer a new species. Rarely, female adults are 

 found which resemble the males in general appearance, except that 

 they are more robust and have long wings; this form, however, upon 

 close observation is found to be a trifle larger with a more robust body 

 together with a more perfectly shaped head and thorax, and its 

 genitalia resemble those of the wingless female. 



The individuals hop and jump about in the meadow in the manner 

 of leafhoppers. The males are more active than the females, prob- 

 ably because they have functional wings. 



In South Carolina and Georgia these insects become abundant in 

 early summer and continue so until late fall, when they gradually 

 disappear, the older individuals dying and the younger seeking hiber- 

 nation quarters under or at the base of their favorite host plants and 

 in protected places such as fences, terraces, or shrubbery. 



Both nymphs and adults suck sap from punctures made in the 

 leaves, petioles, and stems of the plants, causing discoloration, wilting, 

 and, in severe infestation, death. 



Leguminous plants appear to constitute its favorite foods and 

 places for breeding, although its range of host plants is extremely 

 wide. 



The eggs are deposited in the leaves and petioles of the food plants, 

 usually in places where adults have been feeding. 



The incubation period of the egg at Columbia, S. C, covered from 

 6 to 16 days with an average of 11 days. The five instars of the 

 nymph stage together cover from 10 to 18 days with an average 

 of 14 days. The combined length of nymph and adult stages was 

 25 days. 



In the latitude of South Carolina there are from five to six genera- 

 tions annually. The species was found to hibernate in the adult stage. 



The garden flea-hopper is little affected by natural enemies, but 

 changes in weather reduce its numbers during the winter months. 



Hibernation and subsequent multiplication are prevented where 

 weeds and plants that remain green late in the fall and resume growth 

 in the spring are cleaned up in the fall and destroyed. 



