Glassy-winged Sharpshooter
An adult glassy-winged sharpshooter.
The glassy-winged sharpshooter was first reported in California in 1994 but probably arrived in the state in the late 1980s. It is native to the southeastern United States and northeastern Mexico. It feeds on the xylem fluid of a large number of plants. This sharpshooter builds up large populations on a diverse array of host plants and is an aggressive flyer, traveling greater distances than native sharpshooters.
California’s first indication of the severe threat posed by this new disease and vector combination occurred in Temecula, Riverside County in August of 1999, when over 300 acres of grapevines infested with the glassy-winged sharpshooter were infected with PD and ultimately destroyed.