Blue-Green Sharpshooter, Hordnia Atropunctata

Day 206: Bug War! Introduced into my garden as an unwanted "bonus" on commercially-grown Red Currant stock, the Blue-Green Sharpshooter infestation stripped my plants of leaves last year despite my best efforts with a detergent-based, environmentally safe insect spray. They're back, and I'm just peeved enough to break out something stronger in order to control them if the need arises. Formerly known as Graphocephala atropunctata or by the alternate common name of Blue-Green Leafhopper, Hordnia is related to Cicadas. The significance of their name becomes very apparent if you happen to disturb them, at which point they will spring from infested plants with an audible click and may strike your skin with a crisp impact similar to that of being peppered with small hail. Hordnia is known to carry a pathogenic bacteria which affects grape vines, attacking the xylem and killing the plant. Not on my watch. This ends here.

Hordnia Atropunctata, Blue-Green Leafhopper

Day 236: A garden pest, (formerly, now Hordnia) Graphocephala atropunctata is commonly known as the Blue-Green Leafhopper or Blue-Green Sharpshooter. I discovered the relevance of the latter name when I sprayed them with insecticidal soap. They popped off the leaves like seeds from a dry silique, "shooting" several feet from the plant. Considering that the majority of them were on my "Red Lake" currants and only a few had migrated to the gooseberries, I think it's safe to assume that their eggs were on the stems of the currants and only hatched recently. I hadn't noticed any nymphs, but now I know to keep a closer watch. The spread of insects and diseases from "big box store" plants is becoming more prevalent as inspection standards are relaxed for species imported from other states. The guidelines are still there (the "laws," if you will), but the sheer bulk of vegetables, flowers and shrubs makes it impractical to inspect each incoming plant. We all know it's about economics, don't we? There will be more dollars in the pockets of growers and inspectors if the burden of control is shifted to the individual gardener. What a warped world this is!

Footnote: the taxonomists got me again. This critter was moved to Hordnia, and is now Hordnia atropunctata.

Pristiphora Geniculata

Day 323: The identity of this critter may come as a surprise. Despite appearances, it is NOT a caterpillar. True caterpillars are the immature stage of butterflies and moths. These larvae are in fact those of the Mountain-ash Sawfly (Pristiphora geniculara), a species of wasp and currently the bane of my garden. I should have investigated more closely when I first noticed leaves disappearing from the smaller twigs, but I assumed that the tree was heat-stressed or suffering in response to a pesky Sapsucker's drilling. When a second Mountain-ash (different species) began exhibiting the same symptoms, I took a closer look. Pulling a branch down to eye level, I was surprised when a little yellow "caterpillar" assumed an uncharacteristically defensive stance. Then I noticed its cousins hard at work on one of the remaining leaves.

Mountain-ash Sawfly was first noticed in Washington in the summer of 2009, apparently a European immigrant. At that time, it was confined to Snohomish County, but it has since spread to much of the western portion of the state. There are two remedies for this pest. I will only resort to chemicals as a last resort, preferring to go with my father's tried-and-true method: removal and burning of each infected twig or branch showing evidence of the insects or their egg cases. The trees will have to be monitored again next spring because I'm bound to miss a few.