Invasive Beetle Threatens Eucalyptus Trees in Bonita (and Southern California)
Good afternoon Susan,
My name is Susan Zimmer, living here in Bonita. Are you aware of the threat to Eucalyptus trees in the area? It's a beetle which lives its life cycle on the trees and there are adult beetles which eat and lay their eggs, producing larvae in the trees. It's easy to research on the computer.
We have them in our trees on Evergreen Road, as does our neighbor, so I believe they are everywhere. These beetles can kill the trees, as happened to a friend of ours not in this immediate area. My neighborhood has a lot of Eucalyptus, and our lot is a Eucalyptus grove.
It is going to be expensive to treat the trees, and we anticipate losing some, hopefully not all.
Part of the charm of Bonita is the roadside Eucalyptus trees. Maybe you can alert people to the threat and contemplate Bonita without the signature trees. It would NOT look the same.
Susan Zimmer
Evergreen Road
EDITOR'S NOTE:
Thank you for your letter, Susan. I'm sorry to hear that your trees are being attacked and I hope that you can save them ALL.
I did a little research and this invasive Eucalyptus Beetle is call the Dotted Paropsine Leaf Beetle.
It immigrated to San Diego County in 2022 from Australia. Watch the video below for identification in its various stages and more about this pest.
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