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Pests
How to Manage Pests
Pests in Gardens and Landscapes
Sharpshooters
Sharpshooters are sucking insects with large eyes in the leafhopper family Cicadellidae. Sharpshooters are wedge-shaped and generally are varying shades of green, yellow, or brown and often mottled.
Many sharpshooters are larger than other leafhoppers. The blue-green sharpshooter may be up to 0.25 inch long.
Most kinds of sharpshooters feed on only one or several closely related plant species, but a few, like the blue-green sharpshooter and the larger glassy-winged sharpshooter, feed on a variety of plants.
Identification of species | Life
cycle
Damage
Leaves appear bleached or stippled with spots. Adults and nymphs and their pale cast skins are usually found
on the underside of leaves. Some sharpshooters can vector plant diseases such as Pierce's disease.
Solutions
Ignore these insects as they rarely if ever
cause serious harm to woody plants. Insecticidal
soap or narrow-range
oil can be applied to infested foliage to reduce
high populations of nymphs; thorough coverage
of leaf undersides is important. It is very difficult to
control adults effectively and no control is recommended. |
Adult blue-green sharpshooter
Adult willow sharpshooter
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