Well, they're back. Those pesky little insects known as the glassy-winged sharp shooter have returned, making an encore appearance in the area.

Its an appearance that is alarming Southeastern Arizona's wine industry and has the state Department of Agriculture turning to legislators for funding, money that will be used toward halting the insect's spread.

If left unchecked, the insect's proliferation could threaten Arizona's $18 million wine industry, as well as its nut, citrus and ornamental plant industry.

"This is a huge concern," said Al Buhl, owner of Dos Cabezas Winery and Vineyard, located in the Kansas Settlement area. "By not getting this eradicated as quickly as possible, we're playing with fire. This bug is capable of spreading quickly, and that's what is so frightening about a widespread infestation."

The glassy-winged sharpshooter was discovered in Sierra Vista last summer when it was brought in on plants from California, temporarily shutting down Ace Hardware's nursery. Agriculture agents immediately began trapping and spraying and by September, believed they had the problem under control. Agents and wine growers were hoping that any insects left in the area would not survive the winter.

But that wasn't the case.

Katie Decker, spokeswoman for Arizona Department of Agriculture, says the agency has trapped 19 adults and has found numerous egg masses within a three mile range of the Sierra Vista area.

The agriculture department, Decker said, is appealing to the state legislature for about $700,000 in funding to be used for trapping and spraying efforts across the state.

What frightens the agriculture industry most is not the insect itself, but that the glassy-winged sharpshooter vectors a bacterium that causes Pearce's Disease, an untreatable infection capable of killing plants in a matter of weeks. Vineyards are one of the more susceptible targets.

"The money we've put into our trapping and spraying effort so far is money that we've managed to scrape together," Decker said. "There is no budget for this, and that money is now gone. Sometimes emergencies come up, and this is one of them. Another problem is, until we get funding, we won't know how bad this really is."

As the insects continue to breed and multiply, Decker said, time is of the essence.

"The debate over funding shouldn't even be a debate," a frustrated Buhl said. "This insect poses a danger for our entire agriculture industry. People keep focusing on the grapes, but it goes way beyond grapes."

Statewide, agriculture is a $9.2 billion industry.

Sen. Marsha Arzberger, D-Willcox, said Thursday she is working to get support for the funds. "As soon as I heard about this from the Department of Agriculture, I started knocking on doors. It's an urgent problem and we need to get this insect stopped."

Rod Keeling, president of the Arizona Wine Growers Association and owner of Keeling-Schaefer Vineyards just southeast of Willcox, is fearful that the sharpshooters may be capable of establishing a viable colony.

"They survived the winter, and that is not a good sign," he said.

Sharpshooters, he said, are not new to Arizona. "We have about 10 or 12 native sharpshooters, but our little native ones are smaller than the ones that came in on those nursery plants from California. Another concern is how far they travel, sometimes more than a mile a day."

What makes this particular bug so dangerous is that it feeds on the woody portion of the plant, infecting the wood with Pearce's Disease, Keeling said. "Our native sharpshooters only feed on the green parts of plants."

When the plant goes dormant during winter months, the leaves shed and the Pearce's Disease goes away. But with this larger, wood-feeding sharpshooter, the woody part of the plant becomes infected and dies.

"We've had Pearce's Disease in Arizona before, but not as virulent as this. If these insects aren't eradicated, it's not unreasonable to think the entire county could be impacted."