Sharpshooter leafhopper

Notes:

The leafhoppers comprise by far the largest family within the Hemiptera, with approximately 19,500 described species in over 40 subfamilies (Oman et al. 1990a) of which the subfamily Cicadellinae comprises around 2,400 species in around 330 genera. The name “sharpshooter” for this group of xylem-feeding leafhoppers has increasingly been used especially in the USA. They are among the largest and most brightly coloured of the leafhoppers. Some species are important vectors of the xylem-limited bacterium Xylella fastidiosa, which affects both citrus trees in Brazil as well as grapevines in southern USA.