Alexander Nguyen, CA PATCH
A destructive insect that sucks the fluids out of plants and can wreak horticultural havoc in agricultural areas recently was found in Marin and Sonoma counties during routine inspections of nursery shipments from Santa Barbara and Ventura Counties.
Agricultural Commissioners Stacy Carlsen (Marin County) and Tony Linegar (Sonoma County) said inspectors captured the nymph glassy-winged sharpshooters on September 29 in Marin and September 30 in Sonoma while checking incoming plant shipments. A viable egg mass was also found on the Sonoma County shipment.
This invasive pest damages a wide variety of plants and spreads lethal diseases to crops such as almonds and grapes for which there are no known cures. Glassy-winged sharpshooters are known to feed on more than 300 varieties of plants, including widely used landscape plants, fruits and vegetables.
“Protecting agriculture and the environment from this serious pest is one of our top priorities,” Carlsen said. “If the glassy-winged sharpshooter were to get established in the North Bay, the potential damage to the wine grape industry, landscape plants and the environment is significant.”
An adult glassy-winged sharpshooter can drain 200 to 300 times its bodyweight in water every day, the equivalent of a 150-pound adult drinking about 4,300 gallons of water per day. A tree heavily infested with the insect can lose up to 10 to 15 gallons of life-giving fluids per day, requiring a significant increase in irrigation to keep plants healthy.
Read more at: Destructive Insects Found in Marin, Sonoma Counties | Mill Valley, CA Patch