Adult. Wood Canyon, Aliso Viejo, Orange County, CA. 05-15-09. © Peter J. Bryant.

Blue-green Sharpshooter

Hemiptera: Cicadellidae

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The Blue-green Sharpshooter is a small (¼ in., or 6 mm long) bug with blue or bluish-green color on the upper surface while the head, prothorax, legs, and underside are lighter and yellow-green.  Adult blue-green sharpshooters are long-lived. Both nymphs and adults share the peculiar habit of running sideways.  There is usually only a single generation per year.  The females mature during their first winter and lay eggs the following spring. In California, sharpshooters can be found in the vegetation alongside streams and rivers in the Sacramento and San Joaquin Valleys and in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada mountains.  They are also common in the Los Angeles basin, where they can be found on the leaves of native as well as cultivated ornamental plants and crops.  More than 150 plants have been recorded as hosts.  The Blue-green Sharpshooter is known to be a carrier of Pierce’s Disease, a disease infecting grape vines. 

Text © Britton Jacob-Schram.

Source:  Alexander (Sandy) Purcell at the University of California at Berkeley.