The three-cornered alfafa hopper, Spissistilus festinus (Say) oc- 
casionally damages black locust seedlings in nurseries in the 
South. Injury results from the feeding of the nymphs on the 
stems, usually 1 to 2 inches above the base. Gall-like swellings or 
calluses which develop just above the feeding punctures kill many 
of the seedlings. Other seedlings are lost when they break at these 
points. Stictocephala militaris (Gibson and Wells) nymphs feed 
on the veins and petioles of sweetgum leaves in north Georgia. 
Gall-like enlargements may develop at points of injury on the 
petioles, or the leaves may die. 
Other common membracids and their tree hosts are as follows: 
Micrutalis calva (Say)—abundant on honeylocust; Telamona rec- 
livata Fitch— common to abundant on basswood; T. decorata Ball 
—fairly common on aspen; Vanduzea arquata (Say)—abundant 
on black locust; Thelia bimaculata (F.)—abundant on black lo- 
cust; Cyrtolobus disciodalis (Emmons)—common on red oak; 
Carynota stupida Walker—sometimes abundant on _ yellow 
birch; Playcotis vittata (F.)—abundant on oak; and the 
two-marked treehopper, Hnchenopa binotata (Say)—common on 
butternut. 
FAMILY CERCOPIDAE 
SPITTLEBUGS 
Spittlebugs are represented in our fauna by 25 species, most of 
which belong to the subfamily Aphrophorinae (686). As a group, 
the adults are stout-bodied, rarely over 12 mm. long, oval or oval- 
elongate, and dull colored. The nymphal or immature stages are 
spent in frothy masses of spittle on their host plants. 
The pine spittlebug, Aphrophora parallela (Say), occurs in 
southern Canada and throughout most of the eastern states from 
New England to the Lake States, Arkansas, Florida, and Ala- 
bama. Its favorite host appears to be Scotch pine, but it is also 
known to attack pitch, white, Virginia, jack, slash, loblolly, and 
Japanese pines; Norway, white, and red spruces; and balsam fir 
and hemlock. Trees of all ages and sizes are attacked. During out- 
breaks, infested Scotch pines may be severely stunted or killed 
(681). Adults are tan to dark reddish-brown with two narrow, 
oblique, light bands, usually bordered by darker bands, on each 
wing cover, and are about 8 to 11 mm. long (fig. 15). 
Eggs are deposited in dead woody tissue or just under the outer 
bark of twigs during July and August. In the northern parts of 
its range, the species is known to spend the winter in the egg 
stage. The eggs usually hatch in May, and the young nymphs feed 
on the twigs where they soon cover themselves with spittle. As 
they grow, they usually change locations and form new masses of 
spittle at each stop. Upon the approach of maturity they move to 
the main trunk where several may occupy a single spittle mass. 
When they become full-grown, they migrate to the needles and 
transform to adults. Adults are present during July and August 
and feed without producing spittle masses. There is one genera- 
tion per year. 
The fungus, Entomophora aphrophora, and high temperatures 
during the nymphal period occasionally cause heavy mortality of 
71 
