What's Eating Your Avocado?

Persea americana

Reviewed by Kiersten Rankel M.S.

Quick Answer

For avocado, the most likely culprits are avocado thrips (silvery scarring on young fruit skin) and persea mites (round yellow patches on the underside of leathery leaves). Scale insects build up slowly on bark and branch crotches. Squirrels and birds take fruit off small backyard trees before harvest. Mealybugs and lace bugs round out the typical home-grower set.

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What does the damage look like?

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Silver-brown scars on young fruit

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Round yellow patches under leaves

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Half-eaten fruit and chew marks

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Brown bumps on bark and leaves

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White cottony tufts in branch crotches

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Pale dots and brown patches on top of leaves

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Pests, ranked by impact

Thrips

Damage

High

Removal

Hard

What it looks like

Tiny pale yellow insects under 1 mm long, almost invisible without a hand lens. Feed on young fruit and the tender new leaves before they harden. Worst from spring bloom through early summer when fruit is the size of a marble to a walnut.

What the damage looks like

Silvery-brown leathery scars and corky patches on the fruit skin once it sizes up. Damage shows months after feeding because thrips fed on the fruit when it was tiny. Scarred fruit is still safe to eat but loses market value and looks rough on the tree.

How to get rid of them

Option 1

Spinosad spray during fruit-set, every 7 to 10 days

Mix spinosad (Captain Jack's Deadbug Brew or Monterey Garden Insect Spray, ~$15) per the label rate.

Spray young fruit and tender new growth at dusk so the spray dries before pollinators return. Spinosad is bee-safe once dry.

Repeat every 7 to 10 days from petal fall through pea-size fruit. Pre-harvest interval is 1 day on most labels.

Option 2

Mulch heavily under the canopy

Spread 4 to 6 inches of coarse wood-chip mulch out to the drip line. Avocado thrips pupate in leaf litter on the soil. A thick mulch layer disrupts the cycle and harbors predatory mites and ground beetles that feed on pupae. Avocado roots love the moisture and cool soil anyway.

Option 3

Skip broad-spectrum sprays during bloom

Avocado relies on bees for fruit set. Pyrethroids and other broad-spectrum insecticides applied during bloom kill the pollinators and the predatory mites that keep thrips populations down. The next thrips wave comes back worse without those natural controls.

Spider mites

Damage

High

Removal

Moderate

What it looks like

Tiny mites specific to avocado and other Persea species. Live in small silk nests on the underside of leathery avocado leaves, usually along the central vein. Almost invisible to the eye. A 10x hand lens shows pale yellow-green specks moving inside each nest.

What the damage looks like

Circular yellow patches with tiny pale dots on the underside of leaves, each about the size of a pencil eraser. Brown necrotic spots form in heavy infestations. Severe feeding causes early leaf drop, which weakens the next year's fruit set because the tree had less canopy to feed the bloom.

How to get rid of them

Option 1

Hose the canopy underside weekly for 3 weeks

Set a hose nozzle to a strong jet and spray the underside of every reachable leaf for 30 seconds. The blast washes mites off and disrupts their silk nests. Persea mites can't reattach easily once knocked off. Repeat weekly for 3 weeks. Cheap, no chemicals, and avocado leaves tolerate the rinse fine.

Option 2

Release predatory mites at the first sign

Order Neoseiulus californicus or Galendromus helveolus from a beneficial insect supplier (~$30 to $50 per release). These predatory mites specialize in persea mite control on avocado. Release on a cool morning. Skip insecticide sprays for 4 weeks before and after release so the predators establish.

Option 3

Narrow-range horticultural oil for heavy infestations

Mix narrow-range horticultural oil (Bonide All Seasons, ~$15) at the summer rate per label.

Spray the underside of every leaf at dawn or dusk on a day below 85 F. Avocado leaves can scorch if oiled in midday heat.

Repeat in 14 days. Pre-harvest interval is typically 0 days on horticultural oil but check your specific product.

American robin perched on a branch eating a berry

Squirrels and birds

Damage

High

Removal

Hard

What it looks like

Tree squirrels, ground squirrels, crows, and ravens are the main culprits on backyard avocado trees. Active dawn and mid-morning. Squirrels climb directly into the canopy. Birds work the outer canopy and any fruit in reach from a nearby fence or roof.

What the damage looks like

Half-eaten fruit hanging on the tree with tooth marks through the skin. Fruit knocked to the ground partly chewed. Crows pick a single hole through the skin and hollow out the flesh. On a small backyard tree, a single squirrel pair can take the entire crop in a week.

How to get rid of them

Option 1

Bag individual fruit with mesh organza bags

Slip drawstring organza bags (4x6 inch, ~$15 for 100) over each developing fruit once it's the size of an egg. The mesh blocks squirrels and birds, lets light and air through, and stays on until harvest. Tedious on a big tree but the most reliable defense for a small backyard tree.

Option 2

Wrap the trunk with a smooth metal squirrel baffle

Wrap a 24-inch tall section of smooth sheet metal or aluminum flashing around the trunk, 4 feet off the ground.

Trim back any branches touching nearby fences, walls, or other trees. Squirrels jump 5 to 6 feet horizontally.

The baffle works only if there's no other path into the canopy. Walk the tree at fruit-set and re-check every 2 weeks.

Option 3

Harvest at first maturity, do not let fruit hang

Avocado fruit holds on the tree for months and ripens after picking. Once a fruit reaches full size and the stem starts to lighten, pull it. Fruit left hanging is a magnet. Pick a few each week through the season instead of letting the whole crop hang.

Common myth

Mothballs or predator urine repels squirrels.

Mothballs are toxic to pets and pollinators and the smell does not deter a hungry squirrel for more than a day. Predator urine fades after one rain. Bagging fruit and removing branch bridges is the only reliable backyard fix.

Brown soft scale (Coccus hesperidum) clustered on a plant stem

Scale insects

Damage

High

Removal

Hard

What it looks like

Greedy scale and latania scale are the most common on avocado. Hard or soft brown to gray bumps stuck to bark, branch crotches, and the underside of older leaves, 1 to 3 mm wide. Look like small barnacles. Don't move because they're glued in place. Build up slowly over a year or two.

What the damage looks like

Crusty brown bumps along branches, especially in the crotches where two limbs meet. Yellowed leaves around heavy clusters. A sticky shiny film below soft scale colonies, often with black sooty mold. Heavy infestations can kill individual branches and reduce yield over a couple of seasons.

How to get rid of them

Option 1

Horticultural oil spray at dormancy and early spring

Spray narrow-range horticultural oil (Bonide All Seasons, ~$15) on a cool day below 85 F, coating bark and the underside of older leaves.

Spray once in late winter while the tree is least active and again 3 weeks later to catch newly hatched crawlers.

A third spray in early summer catches a second generation. Pre-harvest interval is typically 0 days but check your label.

Option 2

Prune out heavily encrusted branches

On a backyard tree, cut out any small branches that are more than half-covered in scale and dispose in the trash, not the compost. Removing the worst-infested wood drops the population fast and lets oil sprays reach the rest. Sterilize pruners with rubbing alcohol between cuts.

Option 3

Protect the parasitic wasps already on the tree

Aphytis and Encarsia parasitic wasps usually keep avocado scale in check on their own. Skip broad-spectrum insecticides. If you see scale bumps with small round exit holes, the wasps are already at work. Oil sprays are wasp-safe once dry, broad-spectrum sprays are not.

Mealybugs

Damage

Medium

Removal

Moderate

What it looks like

Soft white insects covered in cottony fluff, 2 to 4 mm long. Cluster in branch crotches, leaf-petiole joints, and where new growth emerges. On avocado, they hide in the protected pockets where two branches meet. Slow-moving and often missed because the fluff looks like white debris on the bark.

What the damage looks like

White cottony tufts in branch crotches and at leaf-petiole joints. A sticky shiny film on leaves and bark below the cluster, often with sooty mold. New shoots sometimes emerge stunted or yellowed. On a healthy outdoor tree, ant activity around the trunk is often the first clue.

How to get rid of them

Option 1

Strong water blast every 3 days for 2 weeks

Hold a hose nozzle 12 inches from each visible cluster and blast at high pressure. Most mealybugs dislodge and don't make it back to the tree. Repeat every 3 days for 2 weeks. The fastest fix on outdoor avocado and works without chemicals or pollinator risk.

Option 2

Insecticidal soap and neem oil rotation

Spray ready-to-use insecticidal soap directly into branch crotches and leaf-petiole joints at dusk. Alternate weekly with neem oil (Bonide Neem Oil RTU, ~$15). Continue for 4 weeks. Both are pollinator-safe once dry. Pre-harvest interval is typically 0 days on both products.

Option 3

Band the trunk to block farming ants

Ants protect mealybugs from predators in exchange for the sticky honeydew. Wrap a band of Tanglefoot (~$10) around the trunk 18 inches off the ground. Without ants tending them, lacewings and ladybugs clear most mealybug colonies on their own.

Lace bugs

Damage

Medium

Removal

Moderate

What it looks like

Small lace-winged insects 2 mm long with a clear patterned wing. Live on the underside of leaves, especially in clusters of black tar-like fecal spots. Active in summer and fall in southern California, Florida, and Hawaii. Adults fly off when the leaf is jostled.

What the damage looks like

Tiny pale dots across the upper leaf surface that merge into brown necrotic patches. Black shiny fecal spots on the leaf underside confirm the pest. Heavy infestations cause early leaf drop on outer-canopy branches, which exposes fruit to sunburn.

How to get rid of them

Option 1

Insecticidal soap spray to leaf undersides

Spray ready-to-use insecticidal soap on the underside of every affected leaf at dusk. Lace bugs are soft-bodied and die fast with direct soap contact. Repeat weekly for 3 weeks. Soap is pollinator-safe once dry. Pre-harvest interval is typically 0 days.

Option 2

Hose the canopy underside

Blast the underside of the canopy with a strong water jet weekly. Lace bugs dislodge easily and have a hard time returning. Combined with mulching to keep the tree well-watered, this often handles light infestations without spraying anything.

Option 3

Keep the tree well-watered through summer heat

Drought-stressed avocados drop leaves faster under lace bug pressure. Deep-water the root zone every 7 to 10 days through summer in dry climates. A healthy tree with full canopy moisture shrugs off light feeding that would defoliate a stressed tree.

Stay ahead of all of them

Four habits that keep avocado pest pressure low and the fruit on the tree until harvest.

Underleaf and crotch check, every 2 weeks

Persea mites, scale, and mealybugs all hide on the underside of leaves and in the protected crotches where branches meet. A 2-minute scan with a hand lens every other Sunday catches colonies while they're still on one branch.

Mulch heavily under the canopy

Spread 4 to 6 inches of coarse wood-chip mulch from the trunk out to the drip line, keeping the chips a few inches off the trunk itself. The mulch disrupts thrips pupation, harbors predatory beetles, and keeps the shallow avocado roots cool and moist.

Bag fruit before squirrels notice it

Once fruit is the size of an egg, slip mesh organza bags over every accessible fruit on a small backyard tree. Squirrels and crows learn the tree fast. The week you see the first chewed fruit on the ground, you've already lost the next several.

Skip broad-spectrum sprays during bloom and fruit-set

Avocado needs bees to set fruit, and parasitic wasps and predatory mites already control most pests on the tree. One pyrethroid spray in March can kill the pollinators that set the year's crop and trigger a thrips or mite outbreak by June.

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About This Article

Kiersten Rankel M.S.

Botanical Data Lead at Greg · Plant Scientist

About the Author

Kiersten Rankel holds an M.S. in Ecology & Evolutionary Biology from Tulane University. A certified Louisiana Master Naturalist, she has over a decade of experience in science communication, with research spanning corals, cypress trees, marsh grasses, and more. At Greg, she curates species data and verifies care recommendations against botanical research.

See Kiersten Rankel's full background on LinkedIn.

Editorial Process

Pest identification and treatment guidance verified against Persea americana field reports from Greg's botanical database, cross-referenced with university extension sources and published horticultural research.

9,219+ Greg users growing this plant

USDA hardiness zones 9a–11b

Citations:
NC State Extension
Thrips photo: Ryan Hodnett (CC BY-SA 4.0)
Spider mite photo: Clemson University - USDA Cooperative Extension, Bugwood.org (CC BY 3.0 US)
Scale photo: Whitney Cranshaw, Bugwood.org (CC BY 3.0 US)
Mealybug photo: Gianni Del Bufalo (CC BY 2.0)
Wildlife photo: Mathieu Landretti (CC BY-SA 4.0)
Lace bug photo: B. Schoenmakers / Waarneming.nl (CC BY 3.0)