THE VINE-HOPPERS. 
227 
It is stated by the late Mr. Fessenden, in the “ NeAv 
American Gardener,” that some persons in this country have 
entirely “ abandoned their grape-vines ” in consequence of 
the depredations of a small insect, which, for many years, 
was supposed to be the vine-fretter of Europe. It is not, 
however, the same insect, but is a leaf-hopper, and was 
first described by me in the year 1831, in the eighth volume 
of the “ Encyclopsedia Americana,” * under the name of 
Tettigonia Vitis (Plate III. Fig. 5). In its perfect state 
it measures one tenth of an inch in length. It is of a pale 
yellow or straw* color; there are two little red lines on the 
head ; the back part of the thorax, the scutel, the base of 
the winci-covers, and a broad band across their middle, are 
scarlet; the tips of the wing-covers are blackish, ^and there 
are some little red lines between the broad band and the 
tips. The head is crescent-shaped above, and the eyelets 
are situated just below the ridge of the front. 
The vine-hoppers, as they may be called, inhabit the for¬ 
eign and the native grape-vines, on the under surface of 
the leaves of which they may be found during the greater 
part of the summer; for they pass through all their changes 
on the vines. They make their first appearance on the 
leaves in June, wdien they are very small and not provided 
with wings, being then in the larva state. During most of 
the time they remain perfectly quiet, wdth their beaks thrast 
into the leaves, from wdiich they derive their nourishment 
by suction. If disturbed, however, they leap from one leaf 
to another wdth great agility. As they increase in size they 
have occasion frequently to change their skins, and great 
numbers of their empty cast-skins, of a w*hite color, will 
be found, throughout the summer, adhering to the under 
sides of the leaves and upon the ground beneath the vines. 
When arrived at maturity, which generally occurs during 
the month of August, they are still more agile than before, 
makino; use of their delicate wino-s as well as their legs in 
O O O 
* Article Locust, p. 43. 
