Homalodisca vitripennis
In 3 days ~20% in a week ~40%
The glassy-winged sharpshooter (Homalodisca vitripennis, formerly known as H. coagulata) is a large leafhopper (family Cicadellidae), similar to other species of sharpshooter. It is native to southeastern United States. It is of economic concern in California because it can spread the plant-pathogenic bacterium Xylella fastidiosa.
These sharpshooters are about 12 millimetres (0.5 in) in length. Their color is dark brown to black with black-and-yellow undersides, with yellow eyes, and the upper parts of the head and back are speckled with ivory or yellowish spots. The wings are transparent with reddish veins.
They have piercing, sucking mouthparts and rows of fine spines on their hind legs. They eject up to 300 times their body weight in liquid waste each day thanks to an energy-saving technique known as superpropulsion, where an oscillating surface ejects a liquid droplet at a speed higher than the surface itself.
Glassy-winged sharpshooters usually lay a mass of eggs on the underside of leaves, and they cover them with powdery white protective secretions kept in dry form (called "brochosomes") on the wings. After the nymphs hatch, the remaining... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Cumbres de Monterrey National Park | 🇲🇽 Mexico |
More parks will be added in future updates.
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Dallas | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 2 | Austin | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 3 | Houston | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 4 | Los Angeles | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 5 | San Antonio | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 6 | Monterrey | 🇲🇽 México | |
| 7 | San Diego | 🇺🇸 United States |
With luck
About 10% of wildlife watchers report a Glassy-Winged Sharpshooter sighting in Houston on a given day, based on 131 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data. It is the 132nd most-seen of the 1057 insects we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 20%, and over a week to about 40%, if each day is a fresh chance.
May to August
In those months about 10% of wildlife watchers report a Glassy-Winged Sharpshooter in Houston on a given day, against under 5% in September to April, the lowest months.
Between 6 and 9 am
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Glassy-Winged Sharpshooter sightings with a recorded time, and about 7 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is seen both by day and at night.
Among the best
Of the 7 cities where we can rate Glassy-Winged Sharpshooter sightings, Houston ranks 3rd at about 10%, level with the leaders once rounded. The best odds are in Dallas (United States, about 10%) and Austin (United States, about 10%).
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Glassy-Winged Sharpshooter is recorded against all the insects logged in Houston (131 verified sightings), calibrated against known sighting rates. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10% because citizen-science data supports honest approximations, not decimals, and months with records from fewer than five people show "—". How it works.
