How to Spot Sharpshooters

Glassy-winged sharpshooters, Homalodisca coagulata, are leafhoppers that transmit diseases to plants, such as peach and grape plants. To protect your crop, learn to identify the glassy-winged sharpshooters. You can find these leafhoppers in the southeastern United States from southern North Carolina southward to central Florida and west to central Texas. You can also find glassy-winged sharpshooters in southern California.

Difficulty: Moderate

Instructions

1. Take note of size. These insects range from 1/2- to 3/4-inch long.

2. Examine the insects' underparts for light and dark markings. They have brown backs and large, brown wings. Their wings also have red markings on them. Their heads display ivory spots. These leafhoppers also have yellow or orange faces and legs. Juvenile sharpshooters are gray and have no wings.

3. Watch for behavior. These leafhoppers are adept flyers. The females lay eggs primarily in citrus, holly or sunflower plants, and then they cover the eggs with a white powder. Sharpshooters feed on a wide variety of vegetation, including citrus plants. They feed mainly on the stems of these plants, and excrete a watery substance as they feed. This watery substance can give these plants a whitish hue.

Tips & Warnings

• Glassy-winged sharpshooters carry illnesses, such as Pierce's disease, which affects grape plants, and phony peach disease, which affects peach plants.
• Populations peak during the summer and ebb around the end of August.