Diaprepes Root Weevil and

Fungus Phytophthora – the

Texas Experience

Mani Skaria
Professor
TAMUK Citrus Center
Weslaco, Texas
Decline of sweet orange trees
 Decline stages 1, 2, 3, and 4
1 3

2 4
Phytophthora
Structural roots
(both vertical and
horizontal)
rotten, black
The ‘taco’ effect Trunk had no scaling or
gumming symptoms
of Phytophthora
Neighboring trees too
Helps initial diagnosis
Helps initial diagnosis
Look for adult or larvae
 Diaprepes
adult

Wings
collected
from the soil

Leaf
notching,
grapefruit
D= dying, dd = dead, R =replaced, M = missing trees. 1,2,3,4 indicate row numbers of sweet orange trees
on sour orange planted in five section and severely affected by D. abbreviatus. Dooryard trees in all four
directions are also affected. All as a result of importation of contaminated out of state plants.
Orchard 1
Orchard 2
Citrus Diaprepes and
Phytophthora
 Pathogen Helper

Host Environment
& conditions
Weevil feeding damage
on the trunk &larger roots

No symptoms on the
above ground trunk
 Larva at
work

Adult
Little leaf notcher or
golden headed weevil
Compsus auricephalus

Brown leaf notcher or

Mexican leaf notcher
Epicaerus mexicanus

Sugarcane rootstock
weevil Diaprepes
abbreviatus
Sampling for
Phytophthora

- high water table

 26 R 26 25 24 23 2221 20 19 18 17 16 15 14 13 12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
25 R R R R R D R R D D R R D R R 1
D
R
24
23
R R R
R
R R D R R D R R
M
R R
D
R 2
3
Hobbs Drive
R 22 D D R R D D R R R 4
R 21 R M R R R 5
R R 20 D D D R R R 6
R 19 R R R R R R D 7
R D D 18 R R R R D 8
Yellow =
R D R 17 R R D R R M 9 trees
R R R D 16 dd R R R R R D 10
D 15 R D M R R D D M R 11 removed
D RM 14 D dd M R 12
D R 13 R

M
DD
D
12
11 R R D
D
Purple =
D R dd R 10 R dd R R R D 1
R D dd 9 R R R R R R D R 2 declining
D DM R 8 dd R D R R D dd D R R R 3
R D 7 M dd D D M 4
R R 6 D R R D D D 5
R D 5 R R R
R 4
R 3
D D R 2 M
D D R 1 R MMM Red = dead
7 6 5 4 3 2 1 1 2 3 4 5 6
trees
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 1112 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 2021 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 3334 35 36 37 38
1 D D R dd D D R R D R R R R
2 R R R D R D D D
3 D R R R D R R D D dd D D D D
4 R D R dd dd D M D D Blue =
5 D R D D D DD D R DD D D D DD D
6 MR R D D R R R RMD D D D D dd D missing
7 D D D dd D R D D RMD D D dd D R D D R D R D
8
9
M
M MR M
R R R D D D D D R R R D M D D dd
M M M MM M M M
D R tree
Processing soil and root samples
Orchard Survey

Orchards studied: 17
Trees checked: 17,612
Number of declining trees: 806 (4.6%)
Number of dead trees: 125 (0.7%)

Phytophthora Assay

Samples tested: 116

Phytophthora in soil: 104 (89.7%)
Phytophthora in feeder roots: 29 (25%)
Phytophthora in large roots: 13
(11.2%)
 Diaprepes Root Weevil and
Fungus Phytophthora – the
Texas Experience

Mani Skaria
Professor
TAMUK Citrus Center
Weslaco, Texas