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SIERRA VISTA - A lone insect caught on a sticky trap at Ace Hardware's nursery more than two weeks ago has created quite a stir throughout Cochise County.
And for good reason.
If left unchecked, proliferation of the bug known as a glassy-winged sharpshooter could threaten Arizona's $18 million wine industry, state agriculture agents say.
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The insect vectors a bacterium that causes Pierce's disease, an incurable infection that kills grape vines, oleander plants and citrus trees, as well as other plants. When infected sharpshooters feed on vines, they inject the bacterium, much the same way mosquitoes spread West Nile virus in animal populations.
"The good news is it looks like our monitoring efforts are working," said Robert Call, a horticulture agent with the University of Arizona Cooperative Extension, under the Department of Agriculture. "We monitor these things in an effort to catch them before they get out of control."
As of Friday, inspectors had trapped a total of eight adult sharpshooters and found two egg clusters in an area surrounding the nursery, said Katie Decker, spokeswoman for the state Department of Agriculture.
"These bugs are capable of flying up to a quarter of a mile, so we're investigating in quarter rings," she added.
The sharpshooters, Call said, were likely brought in on nursery stock plants from another location, possibly California.
"We really don't know for sure though, so agents are continuing to investigate," he said.
Initially, traps were set by the Plant Services Division of the Arizona Department of Agriculture to look for white flies, Call said. When one of the sticky traps caught an odd looking insect, later identified by a state entomologist as a glassy-winged sharpshooter, the discovery temporarily shut down Ace's nursery and sparked further investigations.
Plants housed in the nursery have been treated to the Department of Agriculture's specifications and the 10-day quarantine has since been lifted, Call said. State Agriculture officials are monitoring plants coming into Arizona from other states, watching for the insects.
"The traps have been in our nursery for months and months, and this was the first they've found anything to be concerned about," said Les Orchekowsky, owner of Ace Hardware. "We're relieved this was caught early. State inspectors have placed more traps in our nursery and are continuing to monitor."
When news of the bug's presence in Cochise County hit newspapers and network television, homeowners called state agriculture agents with concerns about landscape and ornamental plants.
"Oleanders are probably the most common landscape plant affected by Pierce's disease," Call said. "We're recommending pesticides that contain one of three products - carbaryl, imidacloprid and pyethroids."
The glassy-winged sharpshooters discovered in Sierra Vista have not been tested for Pierce's disease, but Decker said the state agriculture department is focused on ridding the county of the insects and doing everything possible to keep them out.
The insect's presence in Arizona is extremely concerning to wine growers, said Rod Keeling, president of the Arizona Wine Growers Association and owner of Keeling Schaefer Vineyards, located about 46 miles southeast of Willcox.
"There have been other species of sharpshooters in Arizona, but what makes this bug so dangerous to wine growers is that it infects the hardwood of grape vines," Keeling said. "The damage is catastrophic, capable of destroying entire vineyards in just a few years."
In the late 1990s, Pierce's disease devastated Southern California vineyards, killing 14,000 acres of vineyards in Riverside.
There are currently six vineyards in the Willcox area, with several others slated to come in, Keeling said. And there are vineyards in Elgin in Santa Cruz County, Cochise County's western neighbor.
"The presence of this insect in Cochise County is a huge concern right now, one that needs to be taken seriously," Keeling said.
There is very little that Keeling and other wine growers can do to fight the bug.
"We're really depending on the state department of agriculture to help us with this," he said.
Keeling said vineyards are a high-value, low-water-use agriculture, one that could stimulate the area's economic development.
"What's so scary about this particular bug is that it could wipe out this industry," he said. "The best thing is to contain them and keep them out of Arizona."
HERALD/REVIEW reporter Dana
Cole can be reached at 515-4618 or by e-mail at dana.cole@svherald.com.
Ezai I. Martinez wrote on Jun 24, 2009 7:58 PM: