Addressing a New Threat to Avocado: Laurel Wilt Microscopic view
of a redbay ambrosia beetle antenna mounted between gold wire
electrodes of an electroantennography system. The antennae are
exposed to different attractants to determine which ones the
insect most readily detects. First detected 10 years ago near
Savannah, Georgia, laurel wilt disease, caused by the fungus
Raffaelea lauricola, is considered a major threat to the
thriving avocado industry. The disease is vectored by the redbay
ambrosia beetle, Xyleborus glabratus. The tiny Asian import has
traveled north to the Carolinas, south to Florida, and west to
Mississippi, spreading the wilt fungus along the way. Trees
respond to infection by shutting down transport of the fungus
through their vascular tissues, which also shuts down transport
of water, and that makes the disease particularly lethal. The
disease kills 90-95 percent of infected trees and can kill a
tree in just 6 weeks. Laurel wilt was confirmed in Miami-Dade
County commercial avocado grov