invasive species

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Dozens of Giant Snails Stopped at LAX

Invasive species was labeled as food

(Newser) - A slow-moving Nigerian delicacy was stopped at Los Angeles International Airport when 67 giant land snails were discovered packed in picnic baskets, authorities said yesterday. The live African snails—which can grow to be 8 inches long, 5 inches wide, and live to be 10 years old—arrived with paperwork...

Stunning New Jellyfish Named, but Still Mysterious

Pelagia benovici's native habitat remains unknown

(Newser) - A new species of jellyfish has been discovered in the Gulf of Venice—but where it hails from remains a mystery. In a phenomenon known as a bloom, the now-named Pelagia benovici showed up in such force in September that it interfered with fishing; citizen jellyfish trackers who were unable...

Invasive Worm Threatens French Cuisine

It could wipe out all the snails in Europe, warns new report

(Newser) - Devotees of French cuisine love their snails. Unfortunately, a slimy and highly invasive flatworm newly discovered in France finds them quite tasty, too, reports AFP . How invasive? "All snails in Europe could be wiped out," says Jean-Lou Justine of the National Museum of History in France. In other...

All Hail the Polar Vortex, Slayer of Pests

Invasive species of bugs can't survive the cold, Gwynn Guilford argues

(Newser) - If you've just about had enough of the polar vortex, consider this: The severely cold weather we've been experiencing is "decimating the populations of destructive invasive insects that cost the US government and homeowners billions each year," writes Gwynn Guilford for Quartz . Doesn't sound so...

Mystery Pest Eating Its Way Through $1B Texas Crop

'Sugarcane aphid' attacking state's sorghum

(Newser) - No one is quite sure what the bug is, but for now, entomologists are calling it the sugarcane aphid—but instead of sugarcane, the tiny pest is chomping its way through the $1 billion Texas sorghum crop, the Houston Chronicle finds. The bug was first spotted just a year ago,...

Army: Stopping Asian Carp Could Take 25 Years

Great Lakes solution will cost up to $18B

(Newser) - The fight to keep Asian carp from colonizing the Great Lakes could take longer than any war America has ever fought, the Army Corps of Engineers warns in a report commissioned by Congress. The report offered eight strategies to keep the invasive species from overwhelming the ecosystem and ruining a...

New York's New Pest: Cold-Weather Roaches

Hardy Asian species found in US for first time

(Newser) - Sharp-eyed New Yorkers may spot a new winter sight this year: cockroaches scurrying around outside. Periplaneta japonica, a hardy Asian roach that can withstand harsh winter cold, has been found in the city for the first time. Scientists believe the roaches—which have never been spotted in the US before—...

Monster Goldfish Invade Lake Tahoe

Invasive species could damage the ecosystem

(Newser) - Planning a vacay to Lake Tahoe? You may well encounter goldfish that are 1.5 feet long and weigh more than 4 pounds, Scientific American reports. Researchers trolling for invasive species encountered the massive goldfish and say pet owners may have dumped them. That act of good will, however, could...

Oopsss: Fla. Python Hunt Names Wrong Winner

The real longest snake captured was returned to the Everglades

(Newser) - The wrong hunter nabbed some glory when Florida named the winners of its Python Challenge, reports the Miami Herald . A pair of hunters who bagged an 11 foot, 1 inch snake were the real winners of the longest-snake-captured category, but the winner was named as somebody who brought in one...

First Snakes, Now Spiders Take Over Guam

Tree snakes devoured most of the spider-eating birds

(Newser) - First it was two million snakes . Now spiders are taking over Guam. The tiny island is experiencing a population explosion of arachnids because a vast, invasive army of snakes ate most of the native birds, the spiders' natural predator. Biologists say Guam's jungle currently holds 40 times more spiders...

Record Find in Everglades: 17-Foot Python, 87 Eggs

Well, 17 feet, 7 inches to be exact

(Newser) - It's going to take more than a brutal cold snap like the one in 2010 to wipe out the tens of thousands of Burmese pythons in the Florida Everglades, say scientists dissecting the largest one ever found in the area. The 17-foot, 7-inch snake was carrying 87 eggs, also...

Plan to Clean Up Lake Tahoe Is Bad News for Crayfish

Nevada allows commercial fishermen to go after them

(Newser) - In a blend of environmentalism, commercialism, and even culinary delights, authorities hope to clean the water in Lake Tahoe via the fishing of its crayfish inhabitants. Some 280 million crayfish call the lake home, and the booming population contributes to the muddiness of the once translucent water, reports the New ...

Japanese Tsunami Dock Washes Up in Oregon

Biologists fear invasive species hitched a ride

(Newser) - The West Coast has encountered its largest piece of tsunami debris yet—an entire dock that was ripped from its moorings by the monster wave that hit Japan 15 months ago. The 66-foot structure was spotted floating off the coast of Oregon on Monday and washed ashore sometime yesterday. It'...

Tiny Guam Battles 2 Million Snakes

Brown tree snakes are killing native species and biting humans

(Newser) - Two million snakes have taken over the tiny island of Guam, with devastating consequences. Described by the BBC as "one of the most successful invasive species ever," the the brown tree snake is believed to have first slithered onto the 30-mile-long US territory 60 years ago, likely carried...

Snake-Free Hawaii Fears Slithery Invasion

Authorities see more illegal pets, worry about ecosystem

(Newser) - Leave it to a snake to ruin paradise. Hawaiian officials are worried that a steady increase in illegal snake ownership—a 9-foot boa and a 7-foot python were captured this month after escaping—will threaten the islands' fragile ecosystem and kill off birds and flowers, reports the Associated Press . Environmental...

Insect Threatens Hawaii's Top-Shelf Kona Coffee

Coffee berry borer will make beans pricier

(Newser) - Coffee from Hawaii's Kona coast is sought the world over—and can command a price of more than $50 a pound. But the Kona harvest is facing a grave danger: infestation from a the coffee berry borer, a relentless pest that can eradicate a crop, NPR reports. The borer eats...

Be a Good American: Eat This Fish

The lionfish may ruin us if you don't!

(Newser) - How to make Uncle Sam proud: Buy American, fly a flag, eat...lionfish? That third one is, indeed, what one government agency would like you to do. The voracious, aggressively invasive lionfish is wreaking havoc in the Caribbean, off the Florida Keys, and along the Atlantic as far north as...

Back From Brink, Eastern Forests Face New Threats

Damage from early colonization recouped, but other forces conspire

(Newser) - In the early days—or, rather, centuries—of the American experiment, the vast Eastern forests were logged almost to oblivion. But with the opening of the frontier to the West, trees from the Northeast to the Gulf Coast rebounded, and by 1997 the forests had regained almost 70% of their...

Aussies Bicker Over How to Murder Toads

State would prefer folks bludgeon, not suffocate invasive species

(Newser) - Residents of Western Australia, Oz’s largest state, are incensed by a government mandate that might seem odd to those in, say, Kansas: When engaged in the mass killing of cane toads, use the cricket bat instead of the bag of carbon dioxide. Aussies have long made a sport of...

Asian Carp: If You Can't Beat 'Em, Eat 'Em

Louisiana chefs and gov't hatch plan to market invasive fish

(Newser) - If the idea of biting into Asian carp, the invasive species wreaking havoc from the Great Lakes to the Mississippi Delta, sounds unappetizing, one Louisiana chef would like to sell you on delicious “silverfin.” For those not in the know, that’s Asian carp. The rebranding is part...

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