First Report of Xyleborus glabratus (Coleoptera: Curculionidae: Scolytinae) and Laurel Wilt in Louisiana, USA: The Disease Continues Westward on Sassafras

Xyleborus glabratus Eichhoff (Coleoptera: Curculionidae: Scolytinae) and sassafras trees that died from laurel wilt were discovered in a 3-parish area of northern Louisiana, USA, in Sep 2014. Redbay, a species that has been severely affected by the disease in the coastal plains forests of the southeastern USA, is not found in this area of northern Louisiana, suggesting that sassafras is attractive to X. glabratus and an adequate reproductive host for the beetle. This is the first report of X. glabratus and laurel wilt in Louisiana and the first report of the beetle and disease west of the Mississippi River.