The adult glassy-winged sharpshooter measures a half-inch long, is mostly brown, with ivory and black markings on the abdomen, and has large smoky-brown wings with red markings. Immature bugs are wingless and gray. In California the bug spreads a harmful bacterium that damages grapes, citrus, coffee, nut trees and ornamental plants.
State issues alert on bug
that could threaten cropsThe leafhopper has so far been
confirmed only in Leeward Oahu
The Hawaii Department of Agriculture is asking for the public's help in determining how widespread a new agricultural pest might be on Oahu.
A leafhopper called the glassy-winged sharpshooter (Homalodisca coagulata) has been found in Leeward Oahu.
The department confirmed the presence of the bugs in the Waiau-Waimalu area last week.
In California the glassy-winged sharpshooter has caused major problems with grape crops by spreading the bacterium Zylella fastidiosa, which causes the lethal Pierce's disease. In other plants, such as citrus, coffee, nut trees and ornamental plants, the disease is given other names, said Larry Nakahara, manager of the state Agriculture Department's plant pest control branch.
The bugs collected here will be tested for the bacterium, Nakahara said. If the bacterium is not present in Hawaii, the concern will be less urgent, he said.
However, the bugs are known to proliferate and cause a phenomenon called "sharpshooter rain" -- when thousands of bugs on a tree area suck its sap and excrete drops of liquid in annoying volumes, Nakahara said.
The adult insect measures a half-inch long, is mostly brown, with ivory and black markings on the abdomen, and has large smoky-brown wings with red markings. Immature bugs are wingless and gray.
Although other leafhoppers are established in Hawaii, it is the first time this species has been detected here. There have been no reports of the bug on neighbor islands, said Janelle Saneishi, Agriculture Department spokeswoman.
