Several weeks ago I planted some basil seeds and ended up with all the potted basil my herb garden could hold plus many surplus plants.  To see if basil could survive as a window plant I brought one into my office.  It survived although it's far from thriving.  Two days ago I noticed a leaf-hopper like insect on its stem.  It blasted off as I examined it.  This morning I noticed it was back.  It was more tolerant of me as I photographed it with a flash and macro lens.  It had huge eyes and red spots on clear wings.  With the "Field guide to North American Insects" (Eric Eaton) I identified it as Glassy-winged Sharpshooter, Homalodisca vitripennis.  I confirmed it on Bugguide.net.  It's called Sharpshooter, because it expels liquid with enough force to shoot it a fair distance.  In its native range, the southeastern US and Mexico, it poses no problem to humans and their crops.  I have plenty of basil and it’s welcome to some of the juices.  However, it was introduced to California and became a major vineyard pest as a vector of destructive bacterium.

The exuvia, or shed skin, of a Glassy-winged Sharpshooter on the underside of a basil leaf.