Many agents damage "T. distichum" trees. The main damaging (in some cases lethal) agent is the fungus "Lauriliella taxodii", which causes a brown pocket rot known as "pecky cypress." It attacks the heartwood of living trees, usually from the crown down to the roots. A few other fungi attack the sapwood and the heartwood of the tree, but they do not usually cause serious damage. Insects such as the cypress flea beetle ("Systena marginalis") and the bald cypress leafroller ("Archips goyerana") can seriously damage trees by destroying leaves, cones or bark. Nutrias also clip and unroot young bald cypress seedlings, sometimes killing a whole plantation in a short amount of time.