Raffaelea lauricola or more commonly known as Laurel Wilt is a fungus spread from ambrosia beetles that colonize trees. It originated in Asia, but has recently been brought to Southeastern United States on solid wood packing material.
R. lauricola is an asexual fungus that produces small canidiophores in tight clusters in the ambrosia beetles galleries. The fungus mainly feeds on members of the Lauraceae family which includes redbays, sassafras, camphors, silkbays, California bays, avocados, pondspice, and pondberries. As the ambrosia beetles settle and colonize a tree, the
R. lauricola begins to infect the host tree and spreads through its' vascular system causing all water transports to be blocked so within months the host withers and dies.
To help prevent the spread of Laurel Wilt, researchers proposed that redbays be removed from a 4 to 5 km thick band surrounding the known populations of
Xyleborus glabratus. They hope that this will slow the spread of
R. lauricola by its vector
X. glabratus.
