That could change with warmer winters that come with climate change, he said. In Sonoma County, Agricultural Commissioner Andrew Smith also expressed concern about the potential threat to the local wine industry and said as a result that the county would extend its routine trapping for glassy-winged sharpshooters through November, even though it usually ends in October, since the insect typically goes dormant in winter. “We can’t let our guard down,” Cleveland said.
#GLASSY WINGED SHARPSHOOTER PLUS#
That includes using pesticides as needed and increasing traps and surveillance.Ĭheck the water shortage status of your area, plus see reservoir levels and a list of restrictions for the Bay Area’s largest water districts. “Having said that, we’re very confident in our program and in the state’s response.” “For us in Napa, it’s definitely a huge concern,” said Tracy Cleveland, agricultural commissioner for Napa County, where roughly 46,000 acres are planted with wine grapes, its largest commodity. There has never been a known infestation in Napa Valley, but its proximity to Solano County is making winegrowers there nervous. In 1999, grape growers in Temecula (Riverside County) lost 300 acres of grapevines to Pierce’s disease. The leafhoppers are capable of quickly spreading Pierce’s disease, which can take out entire vineyards, leaving them with withered and yellowed canopies. and parts of Mexico, the half-inch-long glassy-winged sharpshooter typically gets transported from region to region with nursery deliveries, even though all new nursery plants are inspected by agriculture officials. “At this point the infestation is confined in a residential area, and it’s not impacting agriculture or grapes in any way,” he said. Their numbers have since increased, and though they haven’t shown signs of spreading to agricultural areas either in Solano County or neighboring Napa County, they’re still unwelcome to the local wine industry. The pests were first spotted earlier this month in a residential part of Vacaville, close to where they were found during a particularly disturbing infestation in 2004. The shimmery brown-and-yellow insects are feared because of their ability to spread Pierce’s disease, which is devastating to grapevines. Glassy-winged sharpshooters, the invasive pests that terrorized Wine Country in the early 2000s, are back in Solano County.
Lea Suzuki / The Chronicle Show More Show Less Lea Suzuki / The Chronicle Show More Show Less 5 of5ĭavid Jagdeo, deputy agricultural commissioner, Sealer of Weights and Measures, Solano County, places a yellow sticky panel trap being used to trap glassy-winged sharpshooters in a Crape Myrtle tree on Wednesday, Octoin Vacaville, Calif. The insects spread Pierce’s disease, which devastates grapevines. Lea Suzuki / The Chronicle Show More Show Less 4 of5Ī glassy-winged sharpshooter is caught in a trap in Solano County. Provided by Solano County Show More Show Less 3 of5ĭavid Jagdeo, deputy agricultural commissioner, Sealer of Weights and Measures, Solano County, changes a yellow sticky panel trap being used to trap glassy-winged sharpshooters on Wednesday, Octoin Vacaville, Calif. Vacaville first reported an infestation of the pests, which can carry a devastating disease to grapevines, on Oct. Glassy-winged sharpshooters and an egg mass on a leaf (top) collected in October 2021 in Vacaville by Solano County Department of Agriculture staff.
Brett Hondow/Getty Images/iStockphoto Show More Show Less 2 of5 Glassy-Winged Sharpshooter (Homalodisca vitripennis) resting on a Crepe Myrtle leaf in Houston, Texas.
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