THE SHARP-NOSED LEAFHOPPER. 69 
"They are both of uniformly deep-green color above, somewhat 
lighter below, with a narrow band under the sharp vertex, and the 
eyes dark; the exserted tip of the ovipositor orange-red. 
"The first brood of adults appeared the first week in May and 
remained until the middle of June, disappearing gradually. They 
feed principally upon the leaves, usually about the middle, feeding on 
either side and either end up, with equal ease. 
1 ' The eggs are deposited during the last of May and the first week 
in June. The females, usually selecting a position just above the 
first leaf base and invariably placing themselves head downward, 
exsert the ovipositor and insert it under the flap of the sheath, gradu- 
ally working backward up the stalk for a distance of 2 inches or more 
and depositing from 70 to 120 eggs within an hour. 
"The eggs are 1.23 mm. long and 0.25 mm. broad, cylindrical, of 
nearly uniform size, curving considerable around the small stem. 
"The larvae appeared the last week in June, giving an incubation 
period of 15 to 20 days. Upon bursting the egg-case the larvae crawl 
partly out from under the sheath and remain quiescent in tins position 
for an hour or two when, becoming suddenly active, a flock of small 
larvae may be seen ascending the stalk and distributing themselves 
upon the leaves, while a row of freshly shed skins, with the abdomen 
still remaining under the sheath, their tips scarcely free from egg- 
shells, explains the cause of the delay. 
"They require about a month to develop, maturing during the 
latter part of July and the first of August, the adults remaining until 
the middle of September. 
The host plant is variously estimated, in some instances being 
considered a troublesome, dangerous weed, in others as a valuable 
forage plant. In parts of North Dakota especially I was informed 
that the stock raisers prize it and cut and feed it regardless of the 
stiff barbs. It appears earlier than some of the other grasses, thus 
supplying early grazing, and if cut early before the development of 
the long barbs, must make a good quality of hay. Early cutting has 
also the advantage of destroying the eggs of this leafhopper and its 
scarcity may be due to such destruction — mowing closely between 
the 10th and 16th of June in Iowa, and relatively later farther north 
will destroy the first brood of eggs and dispose of the barbs, giving a 
later growth of nutritious grass free from jassids. Should adults 
appear in numbers in August, a second mowing in the latter part of 
this month should dispose of the second brood of eggs. 
The Sharp-nosed Leafhopper. 
(Platymeto pius acutus Say.) 
The sharp-nosed leafhopper (Platymeto plus acutus Say) is one of 
the species that has an almost universal distribution throughout the 
United States, and while it has never been reported as occurring in 
