Jul 02

Pest of the Month June 2012 – Laurel Wilt

  • Fungus: Raffaelea lauricola
  • Hosts: avocado, camphor (Lauraceae family)
  • Distribution: Florida, Georgia, and South Carolina
  • Symptoms: Infects the sapwood, restricting the flow of water and causing the leaves to wilt.  Wilted trees may exhibit small dowels or “toothpicks” of sawdust protruding from the stem produced by the ambrosia beetles as they bore into the wood
  • Vector: Redbay ambrosia beetle (Xyleborus glabratus)

Sources

  1. Laurel Wilt Disease: a new threat to California avocado industry and adjacent landscapes, University of California Riverside and the California Avocado Commission.
  2. Pest Alert: Fusarium dieback on California avocado trees vectored by Tea Shot Borer (Euwallacea fornicatus), Akif Eskalen and Richard Stouthamer, University of California Riverside.
  3. Laurel Wilt Disease: A new threat to California avocado industry PowerPoint presentation by Dr. Akif Eskalen, University of California Riverside Department of Plant Pathology and Microbiology

 

Laurel Wilt Disease. Photo by Dr. Bud Mayfield, Florida DOF/DOACS.

Carol Kwan