BEETLES MAY SKELETONIZE AVOCADO LEAVES

May 15, 2024

The tree was about to lose nearly all of its light green young leaves. The damaged leaves were about 16 - 18 cm long. I did not see any insects that were eating the leaves during the day. “The leaf eaters may come out to feed at night.”

It was about 9 PM. Eight leaves were significantly damaged by the time I visited the tree. It looked as if the insects preferred to eat young leaves. Some leaves had been eaten, leaving behind the skeletons. “What’s eating the leaves on my avocado tree?”

“Is it still on the tree?” It was not difficult to spot the beetles. I saw one beetle on a damaged leaf. The beetle with a shiny, bi-color (brown and yellow) coat, was moving slowly on a damaged leaf. The second with an orange color cover was on another damaged leaf. They were small, 6 mm long beetles.

“Can they eat several leaves in one night?” They might have started eating the leaves a few days ago.

I did not give up the search for insects. I carefully inspected the leaves’ top and under. I found another beetle. The third 6 mm long yellow beetle was near the edge of a damaged leaf.

After some time, the plant started to bear new leaves. Beetles were not seen on the tree. The tree could not give them the food they eat.

Now the avocado tree is 180 cm tall. There are no more damaged leaves to be seen on my avocado tree!

The images were captured as it was found happening in nature, and not enhanced using software. Images may be subject to copyright.