138 
Psyche 
[March 
nymphs forming tight clusters occupying 2 to 5 linear cm of plant 
surface. Egg hatch observed for 3 egg masses on the underside of the 
leaf midrib was completed within a 24-hour period. In 1 egg mass, 
15 nymphs after egg hatch lined up along the leaf midrib between 
egg mass and leaf petiole facing the female next to the egg mass. 
When the leaf was turned over, all nymphs moved toward the 
female and clustered together under the egg mass until the leaf was 
returned to its normal position. During the subsequent 24 hrs, the 
remaining eggs hatched and all 60 nymphs with the parent female 
had moved 1 foot from the depleted egg mass on the leaf to the main 
woody branch. The behavior of nymphs and females on 2 other 
leaves was similar. One group moved 27 inches to another large 
branch within 24 hrs of egg hatch. Females which deposited eggs on 
branches moved with their nymphs away from the old egg mass to 
the apex of the branch, where they became associated with new 
leaves. 
Relocation movements of parent females and nymphs is not only 
restricted to the 24 hr period after egg hatch. Four aggregations 
during a 4 to 7-day observation period relocated naturally 1 to 2 
times. Relocation is not simply a matter of moving to an adjacent 
leaf or new shoot, but involves distances up to 3 feet in a 24-hr 
period. For example, one female and apparently all her offspring 
were observed to move down a main branch to a fork, then up the 
2nd branch to the tip of a lateral twig. 
The escape response of parent females and nymphs is different 
from other treehoppers. Six marked females and their offspring on 
isolated plants were disturbed by either moving the branch or 
probing the female with a pencil. Each of 5 females was tested 2 to 5 
times and 1 female was tested once for a total of 18 trials. Only 1 
trial for a female was done each day, but some females were tested 
on consecutive days. The amount of “violence” necessary to pro- 
voke flight by the female varied from trial to trial. My approaching 
the branch or touching it was sometimes effective, while in others, 
females had to be pushed with a pencil 5 to 30 times before taking 
flight. Distances females flew varied from 1 to 15 feet. Females 
relocated nymphs in 9 trials within 24 hrs; in 2 trials in 1 .5 to 4.5 hrs, 
but in 7 trials, they returned within 50 min. (range of 12 to 50 min.). 
No one female consistently returned faster than others. Females 
sometimes simply dropped down into the tree, flew off making a 
