No grey squirrels?
I remember seeing an Australian documentary about cane toads years ago. Not a very popular species…
How about the starlings released by the guy who wanted every animal mentioned by Shakespeare to be living in the US?
When I visited Crater Lake they were taking about the crawfish and trout problems they have too.
Just to clarify, these are exotic invasives. There are also native invasive species, though they’re usually less of an issue.
I would add bittersweet, Euonymus alatus, multiflora rose, Japanese barberry, duckweed, and Eurasian water milfoil to the list of plants. These are all serious problems in the northeast.
Zebra Mussels.
“We’re not going to barbeque our way out of this problem.”
Yes, but it’s fun trying.
I have always wanted to write a book where these types of ecological disruptions were the work of an evil biologist. It would be like Steve Irwin mashed into 12 Monkeys crossed with the Da Vinci Code. Too bad I can’t write for crap.
Ah, the lionfish, a.k.a the Japanese fighting fish!
Asian carp.
I want to see federal funds allocated to proving that we can in fact barbeque our way out of a pig invasion.
That’s pork barrel spending we can all support.
For anyone who likes to learn about invasive species, you should check out the Reddit dedicated to the subject: http://www.reddit.com/r/InvasiveSpecies
I’ll do my best. Where’s Obelix when we need him, he’d know how to handle it.
The asian long horned beetle presents a serious threat in hardwood forests.
This one? I love that film.
Just to prove Godwin’s Law, I’d like to mention that Goering’s Nazi racoons are still invasive in Europe.
Am I correct in imagining a horrifying(ly delicious) hybrid of Apocalypse Now and Iron Chef, where America’s deep, abiding, and honest, love of pork products and high tech incendiary warfare achieve a glorious collaboration?
Also Norway Maple trees.
There’s also the Australian Eucalyptus Borers that did serious damage here in California before other insects were introduced to control their population.
Please, some hate for the brown marmorated stink bug (BMSB)?
Don’t forget the most destructive invader, Homo sapiens.
I totally forgot (!!!) that I actually got a great shot of an invasive pest species back in 2012. The Blue-green Sharpshooter Graphocephala atropunctata, is a type of leaf hopper that is a problem because it transmits the gammaproteobacteria “Xylella fastidious” (a.k.a. “Pierce’s Disease”). The disease itself is a type of leaf scorch that can affect commercially important crops like grapes.
Here’s a link to the info page at Project Noah:
I love the crab thingie, because over here it’s North American crayfish which invade European rivers. Some North American amphipoda were less lucky, those simply get eaten by their European cousins.
