Thousands of grapevines sold at Costco stores in California’s Wine Country could be harboring carriers of a potentially lethal vine disease, authorities recently warned.
The invasive glassy-winged sharpshooter is a large, iridescent insect with an insatiable thirst — an adult sharpshooter drinks up to 300 times its body weight in plant fluids each day. When the bugs bite into the stalks of grapevines, they can transmit the fatal Pierce’s disease, according to the California Department of Food and Agriculture.
Between April 21 and May 21, sharpshooter-infested grapevines were shipped from a Fresno nursery to Costco locations in 24 counties, including Napa, Sonoma, Mendocino and Marin, the CDFA said…