What else from China now?

[CrealCritter]

Giant Asian hornets that can ‘kill with a single sting’ to invade virus-stricken US

GIANT Asian hornets that have begun to invade the coronavirus-stricken U.S. may cost the economy millions of dollars a year. The insects, which can kill with a single sting, may have a devastating …

www.the-sun.com

 

[Britesea]

oh man, and I thought bald-faced hornets and yellow jackets were bad enough

 

[Hinotori]

That's been a while since it was in the news. One was found months ago over this way. They put out the news for us to be on the watch for them.

 

[CrealCritter]

Asian Tiger Mosquito
Burmese Python
Stink Bug
Asian Carp
Japanese Beetle
Zebra Mussel
Red Fire Ant
Northern Snakehead Fish
Asian Longhorn Beetle
Starling

I swear they are trying kill us. I wonder what the United States was like before we sold out to China?

 

[farmerjan]

We have a large, nearly double size, hornet here that we call a Japanese hornet. Have never been stung by one but try very hard to kill any I see as they are around the flowering bushes and such and never having had anything to do with them while younger, I knew they were an invasive species. I worry about our pollination, and now we have to worry about this new type of hornet????

 

[farmerjan]

Some research says the Japanese hornets are basically a subspecies of the Asian hornet. So we have been dealing with them for years already. Kill 'em if you see them.

 

[frustratedearthmother]

Red and black imported fire ants (Solenopsis invicta, and S. richteri) are native to South America. They were accidentally introduced into the U.S. around the 1930's through the port of Mobile, Alabama; probably in soil used for ships' ballasts and have been spreading since.

 

[Britesea]

The Argentinian ant has basically wiped out most native ant species in California. That's what caused the near-extinction of the horned toad lizard; they don't like the taste of the new menu item, and there isn't enough of the old ones for them to survive.

 

[Hinotori]

Cheatgrass is from Europe and around the Mediterranean. It's what causes the nasty fires we get in the scrub desert. It grows fast with the few inches of rain in the spring and is bone dry tinder by summer. It burns hot and spreads fast. The native sagebrush doesn't catch easy but the hot fires will burn them. The sagebrush is having trouble because of this.

Another big issue on the east side of the mountains here is Russian thistle aka tumbleweeds. Pointy nasty things that form drifts, close roads, and burn very hot.

Everywhere has nasty invasives brought in from other continents that have no native checks to keep them in control. Some brough in by accident, some on purpose like kudzu or cane toads.

 

[CrealCritter]

Cheatgrass is from Europe and around the Mediterranean. It's what causes the nasty fires we get in the scrub desert. It grows fast with the few inches of rain in the spring and is bone dry tinder by summer. It burns hot and spreads fast. The native sagebrush doesn't catch easy but the hot fires will burn them. The sagebrush is having trouble because of this.

Another big issue on the east side of the mountains here is Russian thistle aka tumbleweeds. Pointy nasty things that form drifts, close roads, and burn very hot.

Everywhere has nasty invasives brought in from other continents that have no native checks to keep them in control. Some brough in by accident, some on purpose like kudzu or cane toads.

While living in NC I've seen kudzu take over a mature forest and kill it in one season. Also my buddy who was a logger (God Bless him), left the window cracked on a skidder over the weekend. kudzu got inside the cab through the crack, broke the window and it took him and one other guy over an hour with pocket knives to get it all out of the cab. He said it wrapped around everything in the cab even and even got under the seat so bad that he couldn't adjust it.

Note to self... Don't be a Rip Van Winkle in a forest where kudzu grows.

Once established in a habitat, kudzu is able to grow very quickly. The vine has a growth rate of 0.3 m (1 foot) every day.