Invasive Species — Andy Arthur.org

Killing the invasive species is your new pandemic hobby.

Andy | May 7, 2020

Spotted lanternfly: Killing the invasive species is your new pandemic hobby.

If you need to get your mind off the pandemic for a moment, shift it to another plague sweeping the state: spotted lanternflies. It’s one you can play an immediate, and feel-good, role in fixing. And your mission is pretty simple: Find and kill the invasive species’ eggs. Who’s ready to get smashing?

“Honestly, it’s something fun you can be doing outside right now,” says Shannon Powers, press secretary for the state Department of Agriculture. “If you’ve got kids, keep them occupied by just sending them out and telling them to look for these treasures they need to destroy.”

Could climate change shift the conversation on invasive phragmites?

Andy | April 27, 2020

Could climate change shift the conversation on invasive phragmites?

But the war against phragmites may not be as black and white as it was back in 1984 when the Delaware General Assembly dubbed the reeds a public nuisance, or even in the ’90s when Fritchman founded Envirotech Environmental Consulting Inc. and took his herbicides to battle.

Giant Asian Species Set to Expand Across US? – AgWeb

Andy | April 14, 2020

Hell Hornets: Giant Asian Species Set to Expand Across US? – AgWeb

"The largest hornet on the planet, reaching just over 2” long and packing a painful, tissue-destroying sting capable of sending allergic victims to the hospital or morgue, has gained a foothold in the United States."

Seek and Destroy Spotted Lanternfly Eggs – The Allegheny Front

Andy | March 23, 2020

State to Allegheny, Beaver and 10 Other Counties: Seek and Destroy Spotted Lanternfly Eggs – The Allegheny Front

By adding Allegheny and Beaver Counties, along with ten others in central PA, to the Spotted Lanternfly quarantine zone this month, Pennsylvania agricultural officials are trying to avoid the damage these planthoppers have inflicted in some parts of the state. But controlling lanternflies will take some vigilance by area businesses and residents. LISTEN to the story Audio Player 00:00 00:00 Use Up/Down Arrow keys to increase or decrease volume.

In southeastern Pennsylvania, a war is already on against Spotted Lanternflies. News reports are rife with people who say they’re sick of seeing hundreds of the reddish wings flocking in their trees, or flying in their faces, and of sticky sap raining down in their yards, and have taken to swatting, trapping, and even vacuuming them.

New invasive species found in Oneida Lake, described as ‘one of the more disruptive’ pests – newyorkupstate.com

Andy | March 6, 2020

New invasive species found in Oneida Lake, described as ‘one of the more disruptive’ pests – newyorkupstate.com

Oneida Lake has a new invasive species to contend with – the spiny water flea.

Spiny water fleas (scientific name: Bythotrephes longimanus) were first discovered in the lake back in September in samples collected by Cornell researcher Kristen Holeck, who was holding a Cornell Field Biology class on the waterway. Their widespread presence in the lake was subsequently confirmed a few days later by additional sampling by biologists from the Cornell Biological Field Station in Bridgeport on the lake’s south shore.