Photographer: Reyes Garcia III, USDA Agricultural Research Service, United States
The glassy-winged sharpshooter is the culprit behind the spread of Pierce’s disease among grapevines. The insect infects the plant with the bacterium Xylella fastidiosa when it feeds on the sap from the xylem tissue of a vine.
Image taken in: United States
While no glassy-winged sharpshooter infestations were found in any new areas of the state last year, the Pierce’s Disease Control Program continued performing urban treatments in infested areas of Fresno, Madera, and Tulare counties. There appears to be progress in combating the pest, as fewer treatments were required in 2018 compared to previous years.
Sharpshooters were found on approximately 860 properties with nearly 13 hundred properties being treated. In Fresno County, the pest was found in Fowler, Kerman, Reedley, Sanger, and Selma last year. Possible treatments are being planned for those areas this spring. A total of 105 properties in the community of Rolling Hills in Madera County were treated back in fall, with monitoring set to continue this spring. Just over a thousand properties were treated in Tulare County last year after finding the pest in Exeter and Strathmore. Monitoring will continue, as will plans for possible treatments in and around Visalia and Lindsay.
Image credit: Glassy-winged sharpshooter (Homalodisca vitripennis) / by Reyes Garcia III, USDA Agricultural Research Service – This image is Image Number 1355010 at Insect Images, a source for entomological images operated by The Bugwood Network at the University of Georgia and the USDA Forest Service., Public Domain, Link
