THE YELLOW-FACED LEAFHOPPER. 
71 
grasses or on low vegetation and appear to be general feeders. 
They have not been determined as restricted to any single kind of 
grass as a host plant. 
The Yellow-faced Leafhopper. 
{Plqtymeto puis frontalis Van D.) 
The yellow-faced leafhopper (Platymetopius frontalis Van D.) is a 
much darker species than the acutus, ranging from dark brown to 
distinctly black with a broad border and lemon-yellow face. The 
forewings are marked with numerous round, white spots. In size it 
is somewhat shorter but more robust than acutus and the head is not 
so long or so sharply pointed. (See fig. 10.) 
The young, which resemble the adults in shape, have a broad, 
light-yellow or creamy colored stripe occupying the large part of the 
back, but leaving a mar- 
ginal dark border some- 
what like that of Delto- 
ceplialus inimicus, but in 
this species the marginal 
stripe expands on the head 
in front of the eye. The 
life history of the species is 
similar to that of Platyme- 
topius acutus, the nymphs 
appearing about the last 
of May and being found 
through the most of June, 
and adults occurring from 
the middle of June on 
nearly through July. The 
nymphs of the second generation appear by the middle of July and 
occur until the latter part of August, while the adults of this second 
generation begin to appear about the middle of August and are found 
abundantly through September into October, presumably depositing 
eggs, which survive the winter, as adults are not to be found late in 
autumn or early in spring. This species seems to prefer shaded 
locations, as it is usually found much more plentiful in the vicinity 
of thickets or coarse weeds, but it occurs also in rather rank grass, 
clover, etc., in pastures or meadows. The nymphs are swept from 
the undergrowth of grass and weeds. 
The species has a very extended distribution in the United States, 
ranging from eastern Canada to New York and to Illinois, Iowa, and 
Kansas, and it occurs in many cases in considerable abundance, so 
that it may properly be considered as of economic importance* 
Fig. 10.— The yellow-faced leafhopper (Platymetopius frontalis): 
a, Adult; o, face; c, vertex and pronoturu of male; d, female 
genitalia; e, male genitalia. All enlarged. (Original.) 
