by -
Invasive animals threaten native species, damage agricultural crops, and pose health risks to humans.
-
Some of the rare invasive species include hammerhead worms and giant snails.
-
Here are six unique species causing problems in the US.
An invasive species is any species — plant, animal, or insect — present in an ecosystem to which it is not native, and which causes, or is likely to cause, economic or environmental health or poses a risk to humans, according to the Regulation. United States Department of Agriculture.
Invasive species in the US can threaten native plant and animal species – including endangered species – disrupt agriculture, damage infrastructure, and pose health risks to people. Invasive species are often spread by humans: for example, a person might go on a journey in shipments across the globe.
It can take years and millions of dollars to eradicate invasive species, like the successful efforts involving caimans in Florida.
Here are six unique invasive animal species causing environmental destruction in the US.
Nutria
Nutria are large aquatic rodents that look like a cross between a beaver and an oversized rat. Like beavers, they have bright orange teeth due to a special enamel that contains iron. The rotund rodents, which notably lack a neck, can grow to be two feet long and weigh 20 pounds.
Nutria are originally from South America but were brought to the US in the late 1890s as part of the fur trade. According to the USDA, many escaped or were set loose in the 1940s after the fur trade collapsed. The invasive species has now spread to at least 20 states, mainly in Gulf Coast states like Louisiana and Florida.
Nutria cause environmental destruction in part because of their ferocious eating habits. They eat up to 25% of their weight in plants each day with a feeding strategy that involves burrowing, which can destroy the soil, disrupt native plants, encourage erosion and damage infrastructure.
A giant African land snail
The giant African land snail can grow to be 8 inches long. The species is native to East Africa and is considered one of the most destructive snails in the world.
The invasive species was introduced to Hawaii in 1936 and to the continental US in 1966, according to the USDA. When the snails were discovered in Florida in the 1960s, the eradication effort cost $1 million and took ten years. However, the snails were recently found again in Florida, for the third time in the state’s history.
The snails eat at least 500 different plants and can damage plaster and stucco infrastructure. The snails, which can reproduce 1,200 eggs per year, carry a parasite that can cause meningitis in humans.
Shovelhead garden worm
Shovel-headed garden worms, native to Southeast Asia, can grow to have long legs and flat bodies with long stripes. They are also known as hammerhead worms, thanks to their flat, spade-like heads that resemble hammerhead sharks.
The worms first came to the US in 1891 and are found in states such as Texas, Arkansas, and Georgia. Worms are effective predators, feeding on earthworms, which are essential for maintaining soil health.
“If earthworms were eliminated, our plants are not getting the nutrients they need,” Ashley Morgan-Olvera, a researcher with the Texas Invasive Species Institute, told Texas Monthly. “This could affect how our yards, gardens and crop fields grow.”
Asian long-horned tick
Asian long-horned ticks are about the size of a sesame seed and are native to eastern China, Japan, eastern Russia, and Korea. The light brown ticks have been in the United States since at least 2010 and have spread to some eastern states, according to the USDA.
The invasive species is a threat to wildlife and has been found infesting animals such as sheep, goats, dogs, cats, horses, deer and humans. They have even killed cattle. In 2021, a farmer in Ohio found three of his cows dead and covered in Asian longhorn ticks.
Ticks can also clone themselves – or reproduce without a male – so a single tick can start a new population by laying 2,000 eggs.
Emerald ash fireplace
The emerald ash borer is a tiny beetle native to East Asia that was first discovered in the United States in 2002. About the size of a grain of rice, the jewel beetle is a brilliant shade of green. Emerald ash borer infestations have been found in 36 states.
As a wood-boring pest, the invasive species lays its eggs on the bark of ash trees. The larvae then carve their way into the tree and feed on its tissues. The borer interferes with the tree’s intake of food and water, eventually killing it.
Since their arrival in the US, emerald ash borers have devastated American ash trees, killing tens of millions across the country. Scientists say it is the most destructive pest ever to America’s forests.
Wild pigs and wonderful pigs
Pigs, native to Europe and Asia, were brought to the US in the 1500s by early explorers as a food source. According to the USDA, feral pigs in the US today are the same species as pigs found on farms, and are the offspring of pigs that escaped or were released. Today, feral hogs can be found throughout the South and in California.
However, a “super pig” bred in Canada may also be invading the United States from the north. The super pigs, a cross between a domestic pig and a European wild boar, were bred decades ago to make bigger pigs. The super hogs grow thick coats of fur, enabling them to survive winters in Canada and the northern US.
The pigs, which grow to over 600 pounds, prey on native species such as frogs, salamanders, and ground-nesting birds such as ducks and geese. They also destroy agricultural crops by tearing up the ground as they root around for things like plant roots and insect larvae.
There are several documented occurrences of super pigs in North and South Dakota, but the animals have not been able to establish a permanent population – for some time.
Read the original article on Business Insider
