Important Trees of Haiti

168 Pests and Diseases
Other Pests: Parrots (Amazona spp.) eat green seeds in Costa Rica. A rodent (Liomys
salvini) and peccaries consume seeds on the ground in Costa Rica.
Diseases: Fusarium oxyosporum var. perniciosum causes exudation from bark fissures
on infected trunks and branches, attracting wood borers and eventually resulting in limb
breakage in Puerto Rico.
Reference: Francis, 1988.
Species: Eriobotrya japonica (Thunb.) LindI.
Creole Name: lokwat
Family: Rosaceae
Disease: The fire blight (Erwinia amylovora) is the most serious disease of the tree,
causing branches to die back. Scab (Spilocaea eriobotryae) spoils the fruit.
Reference: Mortensen and Bullard, 1970.
Species: Eucalyptus spp.
Creole Name: kaliptis
Family: Myrtaceae
Insect Pests: The snout beetle (Euscelus aureolus) damages fruit of the tree in the
Caribbean. The stingless bee (Trigonia silvestriana) wounds by cutting bark incisions.
Several species of ants eat the seed, hampering sowing success in the nursery, and
inhibiting natural regeneration of the species in Haiti. Seedlings are vulnerable to crickets
(Orthoptera: Gryllidae) that clip the stems or defoliate in the nursery. The tree is susceptible
to attack by the snout beetle (Gonipterus) in South Africa. Additional pests
include: Phoracantha semipunctata in Israel; and Platypus, Pantomorus, and Atta in
Uruguay.
Diseases: Fungal diseases attacking seedlings in Haitian nurseries include: leaf spot
(Alternaria, Cercospora, Curvularia, Myrothecium, Phytophtora, and Spaeropsis);
anthracnose (Colletotrichum); powdery mildew (Oidium); and damping off
(Colletotrichum, Fusarium, Myrothecium, Phomopsis, Phytophthora, and
Scolecotrichum). A canker (Phomopsis) occasionally attacks the tree in Haiti. Basal
canker (Cryphonectria cubensis) infects E. grandis plantations in S. Florida, Brazil and
Surinam.
References: CATIE, 1992; Josiah and Allen-Reid, 1991; Meskimen and Francis, 1990;
Runion et aI., 1990; Webb et aI., 1984.
Species: Genipa americana L.
Creole Name: jinpa
Family: Rubiaceae
Insect Pests: Numerous insects of the orders Coleoptera, Homoptera, and Lepidoptera,
use the tree as a host, though none appears to cause significant damage. Pinhole borers,
the dry-wood termite (Cryptotermes brevis Walker), powderpost beetles (Lyctus spp.),
and marine borers (Toredo spp.) attack the wood in the Caribbean and Central America.
Reference: Francis, 1993.