Florida’s fruit trees face a relentless enemy that doesn’t care how much you watered, pruned, or fertilized. A tiny invasive beetle now tears through orchards and backyard gardens alike, leaving once-healthy trees wilted and dying in a matter of weeks. Gardeners across the state need to recognize this threat quickly, because delay gives this pest exactly what it wants: time.
The culprit behind much of the devastation carries a name that sounds almost harmless: the redbay ambrosia beetle, known scientifically as Xyleborus glabratus. This small, dark beetle measures barely one-sixteenth of an inch long, yet it delivers an outsized punch. Since its arrival in the southeastern United States in the early 2000s, it has spread aggressively across Florida and fueled the spread of a deadly plant disease called laurel wilt. Fruit trees that belong to the laurel family, especially avocado, sit directly in its crosshairs.
