Gee, What Could POSSIBLY Go Wrong With Introducing Invasive Insect To US To Eat Kudzu?

[hatrack]

Kudzu — the "plant that ate the South" — has finally met a pest that's just as voracious. Trouble is, the so-called "kudzu bug" is also fond of another East Asian transplant that we happen to like, and that is big money for American farmers. Soybeans.

"When this insect is feeding on kudzu, it's beneficial," Clemson University entomologist Jeremy Greene says as he stands in a field swarming with the brown, pea-sized critters. "When it's feeding on soybeans, it's a pest."

Like kudzu, which was introduced to the South from Japan in the late 19th century as a fodder and a way to stem erosion on the region's worn-out farmlands, this insect is native to the Far East. And like the invasive vine, which "Deliverance" author James Dickey famously deemed "a vegetable form of cancer," the kudzu bug is running rampant.

Megacopta cribrari, as this member of the stinkbug family is known in scientific circles, was first identified near Atlanta in late October 2009. Since then, it has spread to most of Georgia and North Carolina, all of South Carolina, and several counties in Alabama. And it shows no signs of stopping.

EDIT

http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/kudzu-bug-threatens-eat-us-farmers-lunch-14755547

[CaliforniaPeggy]

1. Do we EVER stop to think about long-term consequences?

I'm guessing we don't.

[OKIsItJustMe]

4. You’ve just proven that “we” do

(Since you do, and you are a part of we.)

[CoffeeCat]

7. When the short-term ...

...reaps outrageously high corporate profits--the long term isn't even a thought
in their heads.

They are unwise, greedy sociopaths.

[racaulk]

8. Absolutely right!

:thumbsup:

[valerief]

11. That's it exactly. The most important thing in the world is for rich people to get richer as fast as

they can. Nothing, and I mean nothing, else matters. I'm sure Monsanto will provide something toxic to "cure" this problem.

[FiveGoodMen]

15. If we had proper tax rules

There would be no outrageously high corporate profits to be had (because we'd tax them progressively).

Then we wouldn't have this problem.

[swag]

2. Oh no, not another kudzu thread.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=105x5573434

[dbackjon]

23. It's kudzu - would you expect anything less than an invasion?

[phantom power]

3. the history of Australia would be instructive...

:eyes:

[racaulk]

5. Introducing a non-native species into an environment where it has no natural predators.

Sounds like a great idea! What could go wrong?

Wait a minute, isn't that how our Kudzu problem began in the first place?

Sigh.

[kestrel91316]

6. Was this insect deliberately introduced or did it accidentally come in?

Prior to introduction of insect species to control invasive plants, there is EXTENSIVE testing to make sure that the pest is 100% dependent on the problematic plant for survival so that crop damage cannot occur. I find it hard to believe this could happen today.

ETA: Well so I actually READ the article. It is obvious that this insect was simply "found" in GA in 2009. It was not a deliberate introduction by anyone with the authority and expertise to do so. Some moron might have done so, not understanding the process of determining an appropriate biological control agent, or more likely it just sneaked in with some imported product or another.

Stink bugs suck. They used to do a real number on my tomatoes and beans and okra when I had my garden. We have the green ones and the mottled brownish black ones here in SoCal. HORRIBLE, destructive pests.

[dixiegrrrrl]

9. There is SO much I find hard to believe could happen today.......

[kestrel91316]

10. I edited my post. This is clearly not a deliberate introduction by anyone

involved in those sorts of things. It's just one more in a long string of accidentally imported pests.

[OKIsItJustMe]

13. Yup, it was accidental

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Megacopta_cribraria
http://www.caes.uga.edu/applications/publications/files/pdf/C%20991_1.PDF

[TheWraith]

12. What do you mean, introducing it?

The article indicates the insect was an accidental transfer.

[jeff47]

14. Don't worry, the gorillas will freeze to death in the winter!

(Simpsons Reference)

[sinkingfeeling]

16. If one reads the article, this insect was NOT intentionally set loose, but may have come from a

single egg in somebody's luggage.

"The samples she's analyzed from the various states have all so far been traced back to the same maternal line — meaning this infestation could have begun with a single gravid or egg-bearing female that hitched a ride here on a plant or in someone's luggage."

[NickB79]

17. Don't worry, I'm sure Monsanto is already working on a new GM soybean

That will resist this bug (and make them a ton of profits in the process).

Until the bug develops resistance.

And then it's back to the most toxic, noxious chemicals we can find. Joy :sarcasm:

[NickB79]

18. Anyone know how far north this bug can survive?

I'm up in Minnesota, and soybeans are BIG here in the Midwest. My entire dad's side of the family are farmers, and a hit to their soybean yields would be disastrous.

If this bug has a major impact on soybean production in the US, expect meat prices to skyrocket. Almost all soy grown in this country winds up as animal feed, and another spike in soy prices would royally screw cattle, hog, and chicken operations.

[NickB79]

20. Crap, I found the answer in the article (and it's not good)

"I think it's going to be able to dwell anywhere in the United States that we grow soybeans," says Greene. "So that should be concerning for some of the states that produce millions of acres of soybeans."

Well, fuck me then.

[bananas]

24. And global warming will extend the range north... nt

[bananas]

25. There's a lot of protein in insects

Maybe they will become animal feed?

[MineralMan]

19. The beetle was NOT intentionally introduced.

That is all.

[saras]

21. You have some secret information that no one else has?

Carelessness IS intentional.

Avoiding regulations about what you can't import and export are intentional.

Neither article says anything at all about how the bugs got here, just that they were "found" after they had already spread fairly widely.

All we know for certain is that no one legally imported them and went through all the appropriate procedures. That is all.

[OKIsItJustMe]

22. This appears to be the initial announcement

http://georgiafaces.caes.uga.edu/index.cfm?public=viewStory&pk_id=3600

Published on November 5, 2009

Kudzu-eating pest found in northeast Georgia

…

Identified and verified

The week the bug samples arrived at Suiter’s lab, Joe Eger was visiting. The Dow AgroSciences field biologist has 35 years of experience studying the bean plataspid insect and has named new genera and species and identified the insect for museums across the world.

Eger’s identification was confirmed by David Rider at North Dakota State University and Tom Henry at the Smithsonian Institution.

Suiter believes the bug arrived here by accident.

“We do have the world’s busiest airport here, but we’ll never know how the bug first got here,” he said. “When it found kudzu here, it found a food source, and it doesn’t have any natural enemies here that we are aware of.”

…