The blockage makes it impossible for the tree's cells to get sufficient nutrients and sugars, starving them. Once inside a tree, the bacteria migrate to its base, multiplying until they clog the circulatory system - much like human arteries getting blocked by fat and cholesterol. Any palm cixiid that later feeds from the tree will pick up the infection and pass the bacteria to more palms. These specific treehoppers (there are other kinds) inject the bacteria through their saliva when feasting on the sap from a palm's leaves. The disease is transmitted solely by the haplaxius crudus, a tiny winged insect sometimes called the American palm cixiid or, generically, a treehopper. Lethal bronzing's first Florida appearance came near Tampa in 2006, but it's now found from the Keys in the south to Jacksonville in the north. "To understand the disease, I need to watch it spread and see what it is doing," said Bahder, an assistant professor with UF. This gives him a lab to test ideas and make presentations, so he is not removing infected trees as recommended. The disease has already heavily damaged Jamaica's coconut plantations, and Brazil is taking preventive measures to avoid invasion.Ĭoincidentally - but conveniently - lethal bronzing is attacking palms right outside Bahder's office at the University of Florida's agriculture research station near Fort Lauderdale. Some worry it will migrate to California and Arizona, infecting date palms and damaging that fruit crop. Lethal bronzing, which experts say likely originated in Mexico, also is found in parts of Texas and throughout the Caribbean. If nothing is done, Bahder said, "I don't think all the palm trees will die, but the issue we see will get a lot worse before it gets better." "Getting this disease under control is essential because it has the potential to drastically modify our landscape," said Brian Bahder, an entomologist who studies insect-borne plant diseases and is a leader in the state's battle against lethal bronzing. Some preventive measures can be taken, but once infected, uprooting the tree is the only practical solution. Florida's official state tree - the tall, broad-leafed sabal palm - is especially susceptible and Florida nurseries, businesses and homeowners are taking a financial hit as they scrap infected palms.