invasive species
-
These hairy crazy ants are invading America and they do not screw around
Start playing the video above, and after you're suitably grossed out by the close-ups, skip to about 0:45. These are insects called hairy crazy ants -- that is what they’re really called -- and they are terrifying. How do they move that fast?
These guys are invading the American South. They are called hairy, because their bellies are hairy. They are called crazy, because they move crazy fast, and also they are crazy with nothing to lose. And they're hard to kill. -
GOP says ban on invasive snakes is 'job killer'
The Obama administration wants to strangle job growth in America like some kind of giant, prosperity-choking python, mostly by banning the importation of said pythons, says a new GOP report.
-
Meter-long king crabs invade Antarctic waters, eat everything
On the seafloors of Antarctic basins, the water has warmed by just 0.27 degrees C — but that’s enough to allow giant king crabs to take over the ecosystem and eat everything they find. These suckers are more than three feet across, and they're gobbling up sea urchins, sea lilies, sea cucumbers, and starfish. They're also messing with the make-up of the sea floor. Check out the (terrifyinggggg) video above: The crab looks like an invasive vehicle in a Star Wars movie that's launching a sneak attack on an unsuspecting, peaceful civilization.
-
Lake Michigan has become unfishable
While lobster fishermen in the Long Island Sound are stubbornly — but just barely — hanging on, people who depended on the fishing stock in the Great Lakes for their livelihood can no longer make it. Lake Michigan is a "liquid desert," reports Dan Egan in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Even the most devoted fishing family Egan can find is sending one of its own up to Alaska, because "he can catch more fish in one day in Alaska than he can catch all winter off Milwaukee."
-
Brace yourself for more stink bugs
Here's one invasive species that's never going to end up on an invasivore menu: the brown marmorated stink bug. (This is actually the most appetizing photo I could find.) They smell when you squish them, they get all up in your house, and they ruined $37 million worth of fruit crops last year. And they're likely to make an even bigger mess this year as they migrate into warmer climates.
-
The frogfish is the world’s most efficient invasivore
It's still hot to be an invasivore, chowing down on invasive species to help balance the ecosystem. Cleveland even had a food festival showcasing ways to prepare the delicious-sounding invasive plant garlic mustard. (This is going out on a limb, but … maybe use it as a condiment?) But the lionfish is a particularly pesky […]
-
Feral camels are coming to eat your air conditioner
… if you live in Australia, that is. Perhaps as a punishment for making me think about giant snakes, Australia is suffering yet another attempted takeover by non-native species, which periodically come in and disrupt the continent's carefully balanced ecosystem of massively deadly freaks of nature. This time, it’s feral camels. And they eat air […]
-
Will climate change hasten the spread of invasive plants?
Bethany Bradley probes the link between climate change and "alien invaders." The climate scientist studies weeds such as kudzu and purple loosestrife.
-
Weeds, rock snot, and lionfish: a menu for 'invasivores'
The latest trend in sustainable food? Eating invasive species. Here's your recipe for an invasivore dinner, complete with lionfish, pigeon, and weeds.