Bug Wiki
Bug Wiki / All bugs / True bugs and cicadas
Sticker of Smoketree sharpshooter
Bug card No. 3951 of 4,939

Smoketree sharpshooter

Homalodisca liturata
Eats: PlantsTrue bugs and cicadasDeserts and dry places6 legs

The smoketree sharpshooter is a leafhopper from North America. At about 13 millimetres long, it is big for a leafhopper. Its favourite plant is a spiny desert bush called smoketree.

Lives in
North America, in dry desert areas
Length
1.3 cm (0.51 in)
Top speed
about 1.3 km/h (0.81 mph)
On foot, estimate
Can it hurt you?
Harmless
Harmless to people. It can spread a germ that makes some plants sick.
What does it eat?
It sucks the watery sap of plants, most of all desert smoketree.
For real!Photo of Smoketree sharpshooter
Picture by (c) Cricket Raspet, some rights reserved (CC BY). CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

How big is it?

How long is it?

Smoketree sharpshooter about 1.3 cm long (0.51 in)A grain of rice about 6 mm (0.24 in)A toy building brick about 3.2 cm (1.3 in)
as long as 2 grains of rice in a rowcould run across a dinner table in 2.8 secondsmoves 28 times its own body length every second

How big is Smoketree sharpshooter compared to YOU?

Just maths in your browser. Nothing is saved or sent anywhere.

How fast is it?

cool stuff

Fun facts

1

Both males and females send each other tiny sound signals.

2

It can carry a germ that harms plants such as grapevines.

3

It feeds on several kinds of plants, but likes smoketree best.

you asked

Most asked questions about Smoketree sharpshooter

?What does the smoketree sharpshooter eat?

It sucks sap from plants, most of all the desert smoketree.

?Is the smoketree sharpshooter harmful?

Not to people, but it can spread a germ that makes plants sick.

For bug experts

Scientific name
Homalodisca liturata
Group
True bugs and cicadas
Family
Cicadellidae
Classification
Insecta > Hemiptera > Cicadellidae
Lives on
North America
Also known as
Lacertate sharpshooter

Where the facts come from

  1. Homalodisca liturata (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0): what it looks like, where it lives, what it eats, sizes and fun facts, retold in simple words.
  2. Picture by (c) Cricket Raspet, some rights reserved (CC BY). CC BY 4.0, Wikimedia Commons. The sticker of this bug is drawn from this picture.

If we got something wrong, sorry, we are bug fans, not a science journal. Tell us at [email protected] and we will fix it.

Bug Wiki honey jar For grown-ups: Bug Wiki is free, with no ads and no tracking. A small tip helps keep it online.Leave a tip

More from the same group: True bugs and cicadas

Pharaoh cicadaTrue bugs and cicadasSpotted lanternflyTrue bugs and cicadasBrown marmorated stink bugTrue bugs and cicadasCochinealTrue bugs and cicadasBoxelder bugTrue bugs and cicadasWestern conifer seed bugTrue bugs and cicadas

Also at home here: Deserts and dry places

Black-tailed alligatorback scorpionScorpions, ticks and friendsCalifornia common scorpionScorpions, ticks and friendsLarge pugnacious antAntsMexican rose-gray tarantulaSpidersJericho scorpionScorpions, ticks and friendsGreen drabMoths
Honey jarfor grown-ups