Found on Citrus & sunflower - Homalodisca liturata

Moved

Moved from Cicadas, Hoppers, Aphids and Allies.

… john and jane balaban, 16 October, 2006 - 6:16pm

Homalodisca liturata

The dull red patch on the wing also distinguishes the smoke-tree sharpshooter from the citrus sharpshooter, H. vitripennis. The smoke-tree sharpshooter has been confused with Homalodisca lacerta, which is Mexican.

… Andy Hamilton, 5 October, 2006 - 7:19am

Might be a Smoke-tree Sharpshooter

You're in the native range of the Smoke-tree Sharpshooter (Homalodisca lacerta), which is very similar. The easiest way to tell the difference is that vitripennis/coagulata has lots of little white dots on the top of the head, while lacerta has wavy lines. Without a clear shot from overhead, one can't be positive- but I would expect to see at least a few white speckles if this were vitripennis

Here's a link to a site with a good illustration of the difference

… Chuck Entz, 30 July, 2006 - 12:50am

Sharpshooter

The length fits at about 12mm (0.5 inch) for Glassy-wing. And they have been found in California also on Citrus, just like here on Citrus also. I can see a few speckles next to the eye.

… Buggz, 30 July, 2006 - 12:09pm

Jury's still out

The length also fits the Smoke-tree Sharpshooter, which is described as only slightly smaller. I'm not saying it can't be the Glassy-winged, just that there's no way to tell from this image. After looking at the image again, I still don't see any of the dots indicative of Glassy-winged. Do you have any other images with a dorsal view of the head?

… Chuck Entz, 30 July, 2006 - 5:47pm

No other images

No, I didn't get any more images, the bug kept moving every time I moved around it (like it knew I was trying to photograph it) Just a camera shy bug I guess. There's more around here, I'll see about getting more picts when I see one.
So until I get a positive ID, what happenes to this image? Does it get moved to Frass or the Genus only guide page?

… Buggz, 30 July, 2006 - 7:59pm

What happens

For now it can stay in ID Request, or you can move it to the genus page, if you'd like. I'm not an expert, so I can only go by specific characteristics that I've read can be used to tell them apart. We do, fortunately, have people here who know much, much more than I do, and it's possible they'll see something I don't know to look for.

The beauty of this site is that there are a lot of people who look at the images over time, so if it can be identified at all, eventually it will be. It's better to let it stay unidentified for the time being than to risk misidentifying it and misleading people who are using the guide as a reference.

By the way: it's not a good idea to put the scientific name in the title- it's added automatically when the image gets moved to the guide and you don't want it there twice

… Chuck Entz, 30 July, 2006 - 11:12pm