Re: Fw: Plant pest.

From: "Julius Boos" ju-bo at email.msn.com> on 2000.12.06 at 19:54:16(5762) >Julius: I am sorry for your loss. However, I think you should send some of this pest to the USDA to see if your pest might be a possible cure for the vegetation clogged canals of South Florida. Maybe your pesky bug is already part of an experiment by the South Florida Water Management District to test the efficacy of using such a predator on the nuisance weeds in the waterways. You never know. < Dear Denis, JUST heard from a Miami friend, he says that is WAS in fact introduced by the USDA to control water hyacynth, but I did not know they would or would be allowed to release a pest on the enviroment with such a broad range of tastes! The little bastard eats all the plants, even climbing down underwater to eat leaves off some a few inches down! My friend says that the top-water plants are being controlled, but without cover the algae and slime algae take over, so they are trying Chinese grass carp on these NEW pests! Do you know if the USDA has a web-page?? Did the little self header Philo. w/ cordate leaves make it??? Thanks, Julius +More Julius Boos wrote: > > Dear Aroiders, > > I first sent the letter below to a fish-list I belong to, but since one of > the plants affected, the water lettuce Pistia stratiotes is an Aroid, was > wondering if any one out there in 'Aroid-land' had run into this little > beauty! Maybe you have read about it in some water management or other > paper?? > > Has anyone on this list experienced a little moth caterpillar (Lepidopteran > larva) that has completely destroyed ALL my floating plants? The little > bastards live in a little (+ - 1/4",1 cm.) floating, folded cut-leaf 'boat', > and eat the leaves of all the floating plants in my fish containers, both > water > hyacinth and water lettuce (Pistia), AND seem able to crawl down below the > water > surface and eat the leaves of submerged plants that are close to the > surface as well! I believe I saw an adult moth of this 'destroying angel', > a > little black delta-winged moth! I first saw this creature in out-door > ponds at my friend Bobby`s home, there it seemed to prefer the leaves of > water lilies (Nymphea sps.) but here I do not have water lilies, so it eats > EVERYTHING in my containers! I wonder if it was one that may have been > introduced by the water management people to control water weeds, but this > thing is NOT selective in it`s diet of seemingly ALL water plants! > > Julius > W.P.B., > Florida.

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