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Redbay Ambrosia Beetle

 

Xyleborus glabratus Eichhoff -- Coleoptera: Scolytinae

 

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       An exotic insect, the redbay ambrosia beetle, Xyleborus glabratus (Coleoptera: Scolytidae), was first detected in Georgia, USA in 2002.  It might have been introduced through the shipment of imported commerce from its native range in southeast Asia.  Adult beetles are tiny, only 2 mm long and brownish-black in color.  The larvae are white grubs with no legs feeding in galleries in infected trees.   Specialists are required to make definite identification.  About three years after its initial discovery it was found to be associated with redbay, Persea borbonia, and sassafras, Sassafras albidum, mortality in coastal areas of the southeastern United States.  It is feared that its host range could include all members of the Lauraceae family of plants.  Most of the plant mortality is not from the feeding activity of the beetles, but rather from a plant pathogen that is vectored by the beetle, the laurel wilt fungus, Raffaelea lauricola.  This is especially lethal to native Lauraceae plants. 

 

       The damage to trees infested with redbay ambrosia beetles is evident from saw dust that appears on the trunks and branches of infested trees.  The fungus shows up as bluish staining of the wood.  The beetle and fungus spreads quickly when harvested wood is moved to other localities.  Many more plants may be under threat of invasion in North America including avocado and native species.

 

REFERENCES:

 

Cameron, R. S., C. Bates  &  J. Johnson.   2008.   Distribution and spread of laurel wilt disease in Georgia: 2006–08 survey and field observations.  Georgia Forestry Commission. U.S. Forest Service Rept.

 

Crane, J. H.   2009.   Issues concerning the control of the redbay ambrosia beetle (Xyleborus glabratus) and spread of the laurel wilt pathogen  Raffaelea lauricola.  avocadosource.com/papers/Research_Articles/Crane Jona.

 

Douce, G. K.  &  J. Johnson.  2005.  Xyleborus glabratus in Georgia’s coastal forests.  Georgia Forestry Commission Pest Alert, October 31, 2005.

 

Fraedrich, S. W.,  T. C. Harrington  & R. J.  Rabaglia.   2007.  Laurel wilt: a new and devastating disease of redbay caused by a fungal symbiont of the exotic redbay ambrosia beetle.  Newsletter of the Michigan Entomological Society 52:  15-16.

 

Fraedrich, S.W.,  T. C. Harrington, R. J.  Rabaglia, A. E.  Mayfield, J. L.  Hanula, J. M.  Eickwort  &  D. R. Miller.  2008.  A fungal symbiont of the redbay ambrosia beetle causes a lethal wilt in redbay and other Lauraceae in the Southeastern United States.   Plant Disease 92:  215-224.

 

Hanula, J. L.,  A. E. Mayfield,  S. W. Fraedrich  &  R. J.  Rabaglia.  2008.  Biology and host associations of redbay ambrosia beetle (Coleoptera: Curculionidae: Scolytinae), exotic vector of laurel wilt killing redbay trees in the southeastern United States.   Journal of Economic Entomology 101:  1276-1286.

 

Hanula, J. L.  &  B.  Sullivan.  2008.  Manuka oil and phoebe oil are attractive baits for Xyleborus glabratus (Coleoptera: Scolytinae), the vector of laurel wilt.  Environmental Entomology 37:  1403-1409.

 

Koch, F. H.  &  W. D. Smith.  2008.  Spatio-temporal analysis of Xyleborus glabratus (Coleoptera: Circulionidae: Scolytinae) invasion in eastern US forests.  Environmental Entomology 37:  442-452.

 

Mayfield, A. E.,  J. E. Peña,  J .H. Crane,  J. A. Smith,  C. L. Branch,  E. D. Ottoson  &  M. Hughes.  2008.  Ability of the redbay ambrosia beetle (Coleoptera: Curculionidae: Scolytinae) to bore into young avocado (Lauraceae) plants and transmit the laurel wilt pathogen (Raffaelea sp.).  Florida Entomologist 91 (3):  485-487.

 

Riggins, J .J.,  J. A. Smith, A. E.  Mayfield, B.  Layton, C.  Balbalian  &  R. Campbell.  2010.  First occurrence of laurel wilt disease on redbay trees in Mississippi.  Plant Disease 94:  634.

 

Smith, J. A,  L. Mount,  A. E. Mayfield, C. A. Bates,  W. A. Lamborn  &  S. W.  Fraedrich.  2009.  First report of laurel wilt disease caused by Raffaelea lauricola on camphor in Florida and Georgia.  Plant Disease 93: 198.