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Sharpshooter (insect)
Encyclopedia
The name sharpshooter is used to refer to any of various genera and species of large leafhopper
s in the tribe Proconiini of the family Cicadellidae. As with all cicadellids, they have piercing-sucking mouthparts and closely spaced rows of fine spines on their hind legs. The nymphs feed by inserting their needle-like mouthparts into the xylem
of the small stems on the plant where the eggs were deposited; the adults have wings and are highly mobile, and most feed on a variety of different plant species. Both nymphs and adults filter a huge volume of dilute liquid through their digestive system to extract the trace nutrients, and much of the water and carbohydrate
s are squirted forcibly away from the body in a fine stream of droplets, thus earning them their common name
.
This group includes a few species which are plant pests, the most serious of which is Homalodisca vitripennis (the "Glassy-winged sharpshooter"). A microbial plant parasite, Xylella fastidiosa
, is carried by this species, and is linked to many plant diseases, including phoney peach disease in the southern United States, oleander leaf scorch and Pierce's disease in California, and citrus X disease in Brazil.
Leafhopper
Leafhopper is a common name applied to any species from the family Cicadellidae. Leafhoppers, colloquially known as hoppers, are minute plant-feeding insects in the superfamily Membracoidea in the order Hemiptera...
s in the tribe Proconiini of the family Cicadellidae. As with all cicadellids, they have piercing-sucking mouthparts and closely spaced rows of fine spines on their hind legs. The nymphs feed by inserting their needle-like mouthparts into the xylem
Xylem
Xylem is one of the two types of transport tissue in vascular plants. . The word xylem is derived from the Classical Greek word ξυλον , meaning "wood"; the best-known xylem tissue is wood, though it is found throughout the plant...
of the small stems on the plant where the eggs were deposited; the adults have wings and are highly mobile, and most feed on a variety of different plant species. Both nymphs and adults filter a huge volume of dilute liquid through their digestive system to extract the trace nutrients, and much of the water and carbohydrate
Carbohydrate
A carbohydrate is an organic compound with the empirical formula ; that is, consists only of carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen, with a hydrogen:oxygen atom ratio of 2:1 . However, there are exceptions to this. One common example would be deoxyribose, a component of DNA, which has the empirical...
s are squirted forcibly away from the body in a fine stream of droplets, thus earning them their common name
Common name
A common name of a taxon or organism is a name in general use within a community; it is often contrasted with the scientific name for the same organism...
.
This group includes a few species which are plant pests, the most serious of which is Homalodisca vitripennis (the "Glassy-winged sharpshooter"). A microbial plant parasite, Xylella fastidiosa
Xylella fastidiosa
Xylella fastidiosa, a bacterium in the class Gammaproteobacteria, is an important plant pathogen that causes phoney peach disease in the southern United States, oleander leaf scorch, and Pierce's disease, and citrus variegated chlorosis disease in Brazil.-Pierce's disease:Pierce's disease was...
, is carried by this species, and is linked to many plant diseases, including phoney peach disease in the southern United States, oleander leaf scorch and Pierce's disease in California, and citrus X disease in Brazil.
External links
- sharpshooters on the UFUniversity of FloridaThe University of Florida is an American public land-grant, sea-grant, and space-grant research university located on a campus in Gainesville, Florida. The university traces its historical origins to 1853, and has operated continuously on its present Gainesville campus since September 1906...
/ IFASInstitute of Food and Agricultural SciencesThe University of Florida’s Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences is a federal-state-county partnership dedicated to developing knowledge in agriculture, human and natural resources, and the life sciences, and enhancing and sustaining the quality of human life by making that information...
Featured Creatures Web site - Homalodisca coagulata , glassy-winged sharpshooter on the UFUniversity of FloridaThe University of Florida is an American public land-grant, sea-grant, and space-grant research university located on a campus in Gainesville, Florida. The university traces its historical origins to 1853, and has operated continuously on its present Gainesville campus since September 1906...
/ IFASInstitute of Food and Agricultural SciencesThe University of Florida’s Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences is a federal-state-county partnership dedicated to developing knowledge in agriculture, human and natural resources, and the life sciences, and enhancing and sustaining the quality of human life by making that information...
Featured Creatures Web site - Video of Graphocephala atrapunctata from Corvallis, OR