28 CIRCULAR 2 41, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 



cover practically all of the United States and portions of Mexico 

 and the West Indies. In 1909 and 1910 the writer found it in 

 abundance at almost every point where collections were made, from 

 the Dakotas to Washington and in the Eastern States from New 

 York to Georgia. In the Southwest it swarmed in almost every 

 locality from Texas to California, being one of the most abundant 

 species met with in collections from grass, wheat, oats, and fall rye. 

 It is quite probable that this is a southern species that has spread 

 over the northern part of the United States in comparatively recent 

 times, but is now well established. Evidently it is to be considered 

 one of the most important of all the leaf hoppers when its wide 

 distribution and possibilities for multiplication are taken into 

 account. 



MEANS OF CONTROL 



The control of the species is a somewhat difficult matter for grass- 

 lands, although it can be captured in the same manner as other 

 common leaf hoppers, but the attacks on grain, especially upon fall 

 wheat, rye, barley, and oats, ought to be very readily prevented by 

 attention to the adjacent grasslands at the proper time in midsummer 

 or early in the fall before the appearance of the fall grain crops. 

 When it is appreciated that these leaf hoppers develop entirely 

 during the summer months in the pastures, meadows, or grasslands 

 adjacent to the cultivated fields, it will be seen that the proper basis 

 of treatment is to attack them in these breeding grounds. Although 

 they may not appear remarkably abundant or seem to cause great 

 injury in the grasslands, they are, nevertheless, draining the crop 

 extensively, and when these plants begin to ripen or become less 

 succulent the tendency is for the leaf hoppers to migrate into the 

 grainfields. Since they fly very readily they accumulate in large 

 numbers in the grainfields, and consequently produce very marked 

 injuries. The treatment of the grassland will depend largely upon 

 what the nature of the land is and its importance as pasture or 

 meadow. If practicable, it may be sprayed or treated with the hop- 

 perdozer; but for rough land, especially that which is not of im- 

 portance for pasture, probably the most desirable method would be 

 to burn it over as completely as possible in September, or at about 

 the time that the grain crops are planted. Of course some of 

 the adults might escape by flight, but at this time a large number 

 of the insects would be in the nymphal stages and unable to escape 

 from the fire. The method suggested by Comstock, of utilizing 

 lights, to which they are attracted, may prove of considerable ad- 

 vantage, but there has been no careful experimental test of the effect 

 of this kind of treatment. 



THE IRRORATE LEAF HOPPER 



- The irrorate leaf hopper, Phlepsius irroratus Say, is one of the 

 most abundant and widely distributed species of the genus, occurring 

 all over the eastern part of the United States from the extreme north 

 to the Gulf and westward to the Rocky Mountains. It is dark 

 brown ; the surface is minutely irrorate on the vertex, and numerous 

 fine reticulations or irrorations appear on the wings. (Fig. 10.) It 

 is nearly one-half inch in length. 



