The
Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission plans to distribute
air potato leaf beetles in Northwest Florida to help attack the
invasive air potato plant.
Air
potato is one of Florida’s most problematic invasive plants – the
nonnative vine can grow up to 8 inches a day and up to 70 feet in
length, crowding out or killing native vegetation.
It
does have a natural enemy -The air potato leaf beetle.
The
beetle is bright red, about the size of your little fingernail, and
has a big appetite only for the air potato plant – it will not feed
on other plants.
The
beetles chew through air potato leaves, leaving them riddled with
holes.
If
you have air potato plants on your property, you will have two
opportunities to get the beetles in our area.
On
Friday, May 18th you can go to FAMU Center for Viticulture and Small
Fruit Research in Tallahassee from 9 till noon or on Wednesday, May
the 6th you can go to the Bay County Extension Office from 9 til
noon.
You
should bring a sample of air potato vine from your yard or land, so
its identification can be verified by biologists.
You
will then receive a container of ten to 100 air potato leaf beetles
to take home and release on your property.
You
should pre-register for the events.
The
address to pre-register can be found on this story at oysterradio.com
or on the Oyster Radio facebook page.
http://live.oysterradio.com/
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