Glassywinged Sharpshooter

Description: The adult sharpshooter is just under one-half inch in length and is speckled dark brown with sides of the abdomen having whitish patches. The wings are clear to smoky-brown with reddish markings. The young nymphs have tiny wing pads and are dull gray. The eggs are laid in a row of 3-28 and are inserted under the epidermis of the lower surfaces of leaves.

Hosts: GWSS has a very wide host range. In Hawaii, GWSS hosts include hibiscus, gardenia, Tahitian gardenia, croton, monkeypod, crown flower, oleander, African tulip, mountain apple, plumeria, Pittosporum tobira, lime, pummelo, java plum, kou, bottlebrush, Caribbean trumpet, haole koa, papaya, and green/red ti leaf.

Damage: There are several problems that may be caused by GWSS: (1) The sharpshooter has sharp piercing mouthparts that it uses to feed on plant and trees. It feeds in the xylem (water conducting channel of plants) and can withdraw plant fluid at 100-300 times its weight per day. As it feeds, a watery substance is excreted at the tip of its abdomen in the form of very tiny droplets. The constant dripping of the watery substance by a huge number of sharpshooters is called "leafhopper rain" which can be very unpleasant. After this watery substance dries out, a white-residue or whitewashed appearance may occur on any plant or item that has been "rained" upon. (2) The sharpshooter can remove a large amount of water from the xylem tissue. Consequently, if this water is not replenished, such as in drought conditions, plants may become weakened. (3) The sharpshooter is a vector of the bacterium, Xylella fastidiosa, which causes disease in various plants, including grapes, citrus, coffee, oleander, and other ornamental plants. Fortunately, no disease symptoms have been observed on any of the hosts found in Hawaii.

• New Pest Advisory
• Plant Pest control activities highlighted in the  Hawaii Department of Agriculture Annual 2006 Report   beginning on page 27.