Phylloxera

/fil-OK-ser-uh/

Root-feeding pest that devastated European vineyards.

Full Definition

Phylloxera (Daktulosphaira vitifoliae) is a root-feeding aphid native to North America that devastated European vineyards in the late 1800s. European Vitis vinifera has no resistance; American species do. The solution was grafting vinifera onto American rootstocks. Phylloxera reshaped global viticulture and remains present worldwide.