Oct. 18 (UPI) -- U.S. Customs & Border Patrol agricultural specialists at the Port of San Luis in Arizona intercepted an insect not previously identified in the United States: Osbornellus sallus.
CBP Tucson office specialists found the pests during a routine inspection of a radicchio shipment arriving from Mexico at the port halfway between San Diego and Tucson, according to the agency on Friday.
Radicchio is a bitter and spicy leaf vegetable.
The Osbornellus sallus -- which is a type of leafhopper that feeds on plants by sucking sap from grasses, trees and shrubs -- was sent to an entomologist with the U.S. Department of Agriculture and Plant Health Inspection Service Plant Inspection and Quarantine.
USDA's National Identification service confirmed it was a "first-in-the-nation" interception, and it is a potential threat to U.S. agriculture.
