Small beetles are causing big problems in Southern California. Two closely related species, the polyphagous shot hole borer and the Kuroshio shot hole borer (collectively referred to as invasive shot hole borers), have been attacking more than 60 species of trees. These invasive beetles create a series of tunnels, or galleries, where they lay eggs and cultivate a Fusarium fungus to use as a food source. The fungus causes branch dieback, general tree decline, and can result in tree death. The beetles have been found in Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino, Ventura, Santa Barbara, and San Diego counties.
What should you look for?
Invasive shot hole...
/h2>- Author: Ben Faber
This is the most recent status report of theKuroshio Shot Hole Borer in the Tijuana River Valley of San Diego. For the full report go to: https://trnerr.org/kshb/
The Ecology and Management of the Kuroshio Shot Hole Borer
in the Tijuana River Valley
2019-20 (Year 5)
By
- Author: Ben Faber
What Are the UC Ag Experts Talking About?
Invasive shot hole borers in avocado
May 20, 2020, Wednesday, 3-4 PM
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- Author: Ben Faber
Ambrosia beetles, which are a large group of several thousand species worldwide, belong to the bark beetles. All species are characterized by the ability to cultivate fungi. Invasive Shot Hole Borers that attack avocado and a range of native and landscape trees in California and the Laurel Wilt Disease that hammers avocado in Florida are ambrosia beetles. These beetles cultivate fungi in living trees and over time, the fungus is what kills the tree.
Beetles share the work of cultivating their fungal gardens: some...
- Author: Ben Faber
A “boring” problem that's generating
big interest in southern California
By Deena Husein, UCR Entomology, Ph.D. Candidate, Stouthamer Lab, UC Riverside
It has been a little over a decade since the first sighting of the polyphagous shot hole borer (PSHB) in Los Angeles County, yet a reliable control method has not been established. Part of the setback was caused by the misidentification of the species due to...