Tag: Redbay ambrosia beetle

Prevention is Key: Lessons from Laurel Wilt

by Megan Leinenbach, SRS Science Communications Intern  • 
Since 2002, forests in the southeastern U.S. have struggled against a disease called laurel wilt. In 18 years, laurel wilt has spread to 11 southeastern states and killed hundreds of millions of trees. A review article by USDA Forest Service scientist Rabiu Olatinwo reflects on the origins and spread of laurel wilt throughout the last…  More 

Fast, Field-Based Diagnosis of Laurel Wilt Disease

by Jennifer Moore Myers, SRS Science Communications  • 
The redbay ambrosia beetle (Xyleborus glabratus) and a fungal pathogen (Raffaelea lauricola) were first introduced to the U.S. in the early 2000s. Since then, the deadly duo known as laurel wilt disease has cause widespread mortality among redbay (Persea borbonia), sassafras (Sassafras albidum), and avocado (Persea americana) trees in the southeastern U.S. A team of…  More 

Redbay Ambrosia Beetle in Sassafras & Redbay

by Sarah Farmer, SRS Science Communications  • 
Redbay ambrosia beetles (Xyleborus glabratus) reproduce best in wood that’s dead or dying, according to a recent USDA Forest Service study. “Redbay trees that have just died from laurel wilt are incredibly attractive to redbay ambrosia beetles,” says SRS plant pathologist Stephen Fraedrich. “A redbay tree that has recently died can attract thousands of beetles.”…  More 

Study Supports Single Introduction of Laurel Wilt Pathogen in the U.S.

by Jennifer Moore Myers, SRS Science Communications  • 
Laurel wilt has devastated plants in the Lauraceae family – redbay, sassafras, pondberry, avocado, and others – since it was first detected in the southeastern U.S. around 2002. The disease is caused by the pathogen Raffaelea lauricola and carried by the redbay ambrosia beetle – and by humans moving infested wood. There is no widespread,…  More 

How Cold Is Too Cold for Redbay Ambrosia Beetles?

by Stephanie Worley Firley, Eastern Threat Center  • 
Nonnative redbay ambrosia beetles and the fungus they carry have killed hundreds of millions of trees in the Southeast since first detected in 2002. Currently, only cold temperatures limit the beetles’ establishment and spread in the eastern United States. A study led by Mississippi State University involving U.S. Forest Service researchers determined the coldest temperatures…  More 

One is the Deadliest Number

by Stephanie Worley Firley, Eastern Threat Center  • 
When the redbay ambrosia beetle, native to Asia, was first detected in coastal Georgia in 2002, it didn’t set off any alarm bells. “Ambrosia beetles rarely damage healthy trees, so this find was initially considered unimportant. But the subsequent epidemic of laurel wilt in the Southeast has caused a re-examination of the significance of these…  More 

Sassafras and Laurel Wilt Disease

by Sarah Farmer, SRS Science Communications  • 
The scent of a crushed sassafras leaf is unforgettable – sweet, pungent, fragrant. If you have never plucked one of the leaves and rolled it around between your fingers, you should. “Sassafras is susceptible to laurel wilt disease,” says U.S. Forest Service research mathematical statistician KaDonna Randolph. “The disease has not reached the heart of…  More 

Recovering from Laurel Wilt

by Sarah Farmer, SRS Science Delivery  • 
Originally from Asia, the redbay ambrosia beetle and the fungus it carries in its jaws have found a new home in the southern United States. Eradication is impossible at this point, and the fungus causes laurel wilt, a highly destructive disease that affects redbay, swamp bay, sassafras, avocado, and pondberry – as well as every other…  More 

Laurel Wilt Continues to Spread

by Zoё Hoyle, SRS Science Delivery  • 
The redbay laurels that once graced the coastal forests and residential landscapes of the Southeast have all but disappeared, taken down by laurel wilt, a deadly disease caused by a fungus (Raffaelea lauricola) carried in the jaws of the nonnative redbay ambrosia beetle (Xyleborus glabratus). Both beetle and fungus apparently arrived from Asia through the…  More