GWSS biology |
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| The glassy-winged sharpshooter (GWSS), Homalodisca vitripennis (Germar) [formerly H. coagulata (Say)] (Hemiptera : Cicadellidae), is an invasive species in French Polynesia. Adults and nymphs of GWSS are xylophagous. Due to the low nutritional value of xylem, they need to ingest large quantities of xylem fluid. Consequently, GWSS can consume up to 100 times its body weight per day. Copious amounts of watery excreta are produced by the pest and continuously discharged from heavily infested trees. GWSS has earned the common local name mouche pisseuse (pissing fly). GWSS can feed on more than 150 plant species in 34 plant families (e. g. Cordyline sp., Hibiscus rosasinensis, Citrus sp., Hibiscus tiliaceus, Eucalyptus, Macadamia, Gardenia tahitiensis, etc.). |
life cycle of the glassy-winged sharpshooter |
GWSS females lay eggs by making a cut or slit with the ovipositor (egg laying organ) on the undersides of leaves. The eggs are then deposited into this slit so they are protected within the leaf. The life cycle (egg to adult to death) of GWSS takes approximately 4 months (2 months of development, and 2 months at the adult stage). |
