clair084

Invasive Kudzu Bugs May Pose Greater Threat Than Previously Thought www.ScienceDaily.com April 15, 2013 The invasive kudzu bug has the potential to be a major agricultural pest, causing significant damage to economically important soybean crops. Conventional wisdom has held that the insect pests will be limited to areas in the southern United States, but new research from North Carolina State University shows that they may be able to expand into other parts of the country. Kudzu bugs ( Megacopta cribraria ) are native to Asia, and were first detected in the U.S. in Georgia in 2009. They have since expanded their territory as far north as Virginia. The bugs have an interesting life cycle, which has been thought to be a limiting factor on far they can spread. Eggs laid in the spring hatch into a first generation, which we'll call "Generation A." The immature bugs of Generation A normally feed on kudzu plants until they reach adulthood, when they have been known to move into...

Kudzu Reaches Northern Ohio By Mary Beth Breckenridge Beacon Journal staff writer Kudzu has been called the vine that ate the South. Now it’s the North’s turn to struggle with it.  Workers in South Carolina try to remove the invasive plant kudzu. Kudza has been confirmed in Summit, Portage and Cuyahoga counties. (MCT File Photo) Kudzu has reached our area [northern Ohio], with patches reported in Summit, Portage and Cuyahoga counties, said Kathy Smith, Ohio State University Extension program director in forestry. In fact, it’s been found as far north on our continent as Ontario and British Columbia. ...  That doesn’t necessarily mean the aggressive vine will soon drape our hillsides and choke our trees. It’s believed the growing season in Northern Ohio is too short to allow the plant to flower and produce fruit here, which keeps kudzu from spreading rampantly. But that could change, said James Bissell, curator of botany at the Cleveland Museum of Natural History. The chan...

Bug Battle: An Invasive Plant Now Faces Its Own Attacker Insects From Asia Munch on Kudzu, a Vine That Has Grown on Some By VALERIE BAUERLEIN The Wall Street Journal GRIFFIN, Ga.—Patti Bennett was looking out the window of her home office one morning two years ago when a swarm of green bugs flew out of the neighboring kudzu patch. "I thought, 'What the hell is that headed at my house?' It was like a horror movie," says Ms. Bennett, a 53-year-old insurance underwriter who lives about an hour from Atlanta. She killed hundreds of bugs with spray, while thousands more released a musty, bittersweet odor in defense. She scooped some bugs into a Tupperware container of alcohol and handed them to the local Home Depot specialist, an exterminator and a county agricultural agent. Ms. Bennett was one of the first people in the South to report seeing Megacopta cribraria, an insect native to Asia that likely stowed away on a flight in 2009 and entered the U.S. through Atlanta's...

Kudzu bug spreads across Southern states Sharon Dowdy, News Editor UGA College of Agricultural & Environmental Sciences www.ugaextension.org Almost two years ago, a tiny immigrant pest arrived in Georgia, and there’s nothing the state’s immigration office can do to make it leave. The bean plataspid, or kudzu bug, munches on kudzu and soybeans and has now set up residence in four Southern states. Homeowners consider the bug a nuisance. Soybean producers shudder at the damage it causes. And many are hoping it will prove to be a kudzu killer. Spreading problem The kudzu bug was first spotted in Georgia in the fall of 2009 when insect samples were sent to the University of Georgia Homeowner Insect and Weed Diagnostic Laboratory in Griffin, Ga. The first samples came from UGA Cooperative Extension agents in Barrow, Gwinnett and Jackson counties. “The bug can now be found in 143 Georgia counties, all South Carolina counties, 42 North Carolina counties and 5 Alabama counties,” said Wayne ...

USDA publishes list of prohibited plants, flowers USDA-Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service seeks public comment regarding Not Authorized Pending Pest Risk Analysis plant list. For more information, see this link . --------------------------------------------------------- Did Cryptic Invasion of North America by Common Reed Change Exposure to Pollen Allergens? Interesting article... Link . ---------------------------------------------------------- Killing Kudzu With Helium A 17-year-old from Georgia, expanding on what originally began as a sixth-grade science project, is successfully using helium to kill kudzu. Jacob Schindler has invented and patented a drill that delivers helium into the root system. (Other gases he administered this way, such as carbon dioxide, proved ineffective.) He is currently working with Auburn University to test the method over large areas. Read the full story in the Erosion Control journal at link . ---------------------------------------------------...

Updated November 6. The latest news is at the bottom of the post. --------------------------------------------------------- More than $1 Million for projects to improve the health of Long Island Sound Funds awarded to control perennial pepperweed (Waterford, Conn. – Oct. 29, 2009) – Gathering together on the shores of Long Island Sound, top federal and state environmental officials announced 33 grants to state and local government and community groups under the Long Island Sound Futures Fund. The $1,011,878 will be leveraged by $1.92 million contributed by the recipients, providing a total of nearly $2.94 million for on-the-ground conservation in Connecticut and New York. [...] This year’s grant program funded 21 large grants (grants greater than $10,000) totaling $943,755. Five grants were awarded for water quality; four for habitat restoration; one for watershed planning; one for invasive species control; seven for education; and three for stewardship projects. [...] The grants incl...