Homalodisca vitripennis: a leafhopper of potential economic significance in Australia

In June this year, Anna Rathe attended the 13th International Auchenorrhyncha Congress and the 7th International Workshop on Leafhoppers and Planthoppers of Economic Significance in Vaison-la–Romaine, France with the assistance of a CRCNPB travel grant. The meeting was attended by both taxonomists and ecologists who are working on insects from the Auchenorrhyncha suborder.

The purpose of Anna's trip was to give a presentation on an insect pest from this suborder, the glassy-winged sharpshooter (Homoladisca vitripennis), which is a plant disease vector and the focus of her PhD project. Homalodisca vitripennis vectors the plant pathogen Xylella fastidiosa and although neither the insect nor the bacterium are currently present in the country, both organisms pose a biosecurity risk to Australia.

The science shared at the conference related particularly to the preparedness and prevention objective of the CRCNPB as Anna gained information about H.vitripennis as well as on the identification of Australian native insects that are closely related to H. Vitripennis which may have the ability to vector X. Fastidiosa. This information will aid in targeting possible disease vectors prior to a pathogen incursion event. Anna also learned about other plant pathogen vector systems and was introduced to a number of new experimental techniques, particularly with regard to vector probing behaviour.

Attending the conference was beneficial in that it allowed Anna’s work to be shared with, and critiqued by an international audience of academics who then gave feedback and ideas to be incorporated into her project. This feedback was influential in shaping the next set of Anna's PhD experiments based in America which is likely to lead to improved biosecurity outcomes for this pathosystem.