58 LEAFHOPPERS AFFECTING CEREALS, ETC. 
not been published. This may be due in part to the very great abun- 
dance of the species and partly, perhaps, because the nymphs, while pre- 
senting evident characters, are not particularly striking in appearance; 
and partly, perhaps, it is due to general neglect of life-history studies 
for this group of insects. Egg deposition occurs in autumn and is at 
this time mainly confined to large-stemmed grasses occurring in the 
low ground or thoroughly moist locations, a selection which may be 
due to the more succulent character of the plant at this time or to a 
choice for the larger stems. The deposition in midsummer appears to 
be less restricted, and apparently the insects occur in the borders of the 
leaves as well as between the leaf sheath and stem. The series of eggs 
collected by Mr. R. A. Vickery, at Salisbur}^, N. C, which quite cer- 
tainly belong to this species, were placed beneath the epidermis along 
the margin of the leaf, the inner end of the egg extending to the mid- 
rib. Owing to parasitism these eggs did not hatch, and the determi- 
nation of the species is not absolute. Mr. Vickery, however, secured 
similar egg deposition in a leaf of corn when the insect was confined 
with this plant. 
The newly hatched nymphs have not been observed, but nymphs of 
later stages have the characteristic shape of the adult, the head is 
sharply pointed, a little less so in the early stages, and becoming a little 
more acute with each of the molts. They are of a light-green or yel- 
lowish color, with four dorsal parallel stripes running ver} r nearly from 
the front of the head to the end of the body. These stripes diminish 
gradually toward the end of the bod} r , the two outer ones disappearing 
with the middle of the abdomen, while the two central ones continue 
to the end. The different molts agree quite closely in appearance, 
except hi the development of the wing-pads. These in the last 
nymphal stages form the angles extending to the backs of the second 
abdominal segments. 
There are clearly two distinct generations annually and a somewhat 
irregular occurrence of different stages during the autumn and win- 
ter owing to the survival of nymphs and adults. Hibernation seems to 
occur in all stages from the egg to the adult, although the great ma- 
jority must pass the winter in the egg stage. Eggs hatching in the 
spring give rise to nymphs which reach maturity by the latter part of 
June, and these adults survive until about the 20th of August. The 
second generation of nymphs begins to appear about the second week 
hi August and continues through September, appearing in October 
and November, although some individuals may be found as adult by 
the middle of September and others remain as nymphs until winter. 
These dates will vary somewhat with latitudes, and possibly a greater 
number of generations may be found in the southern localities, but no 
positive observations are on record for such regions. 
