West Indies Mahogany Insect Pests
The West Indian Mahogany also known as Cuban Mahogany, tree is native in parts of Miami Dade and Monroe counties, Bahamas, Haiti, The Dominican Republic, Cuba and Jamaica. More than 250 years ago it was introduced to Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands.
Mahogany is under legal protection in Florida. It is on the state’s Endangered and Threatened list. West Indian Mahogany has become increasingly rare due to harvesting for its valuable timber. So think twice before chopping one down.
Mahogany can reach heights of up to 75 feet and a 50 foot wide-spread. The trunk can be three to four and a half feet in diameter.
Mahogany tree is semi-deciduous sometime in March to May the leave will turn brown shedding the old leave suddenly but are quickly grow back new ones so there is nothing wrong with tree at this time.
Insect pests of Mohagony
Cuban leaf beetle, Phyllophaga bruneri.
Mahogany webworm moth
Mahogany webworm larvae
Rugrose Spireling Whitefly
Scale
leaf notcher
leaf miner
mahogany shoot borer
Pest Management
IPM Integrated Pest Management is the best option to help control pests of Mohogany by proper selective pruning and the removal of dead branches that can be attractive to borers, if the pest problem is only cosmetic and not severe chemical pest control is not required.
If problems with scale and whiteflies is severe spraying could be a chalange for tall trees, trunk injections with systemic insecticides are a great option to prevent soil contamination and quicker results but these treatments can be more expensive especially if you have many large trees to treat as it should be performed by a trained professional, a less expensive option is to perform a systemic root drench treatment with an active ingredient Imodacloprid with a product like Dominion 2L, this treatment can last up to one year until the next leaf drop.
