Ten years ago, the unwelcome entrance of this xylem-sucking pest into Southern California vineyards set off every alarm bell in the industry. The Temecula Valley wine country in Riverside County, especially hard-hit by the epidemic of Pierce's disease (PD) that the sharpshooter was so good at spreading, was widely assumed to be terminal, and the vastly more valuable stretches of vineyard land up North went onto a death-watch.

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