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Louisiana is home to some of the most destructive invasive species found in the United States. The LSU AgCenter has long worked to monitor and manage these non-native insects, weeds and wildlife. To better understand and control invasive species, the LSU AgCenter is developing a Center of Research Excellence for the Study of Invasive Species. The Louisiana Board of Regents approved the creation of the center on Sept. 20.

Early detection is critical to the eradication and management of invasive species, and curious members of the public play a key role by sharing observations on platforms such as iNaturalist. Integrating these sightings from a bug-curious public into ongoing biosecurity surveillance is an increasingly valuable approach for invasive species management.

ARS researchers use biocontrol methods to manage fire ant populations.

The Chesapeake Bay Nutria Eradication Project (CBNEP) announced at an event at Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge today that Maryland is now free of the exotic, invasive nutria. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS), U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Wildlife Services (WS), and Maryland Department of Natural Resources (DNR) have worked more than 20 years to make this difficult task -- never accomplished before on this scale -- a success.

Forests are incredibly important to pollinators. Forest pollinators can also provide substantial economic benefits to neighboring agricultural areas, as a new global review paper discusses. Forest pollinators are easy to overlook – they are often highly seasonal, especially in temperate regions, and many are active far above our heads in the forest canopy.

The Delaware Department of Agriculture (DDA) announced today that they expanded the spotted lanternfly quarantine to include all portions of New Castle County north of the Chesapeake and Delaware Canal. This is due to recent detections of established populations outside of the initial quarantine zone enacted in February 2019 that included eleven zip codes. "This expansion is necessary in our attempt to eradicate, control, and prevent the spread of spotted lanternfly in Delaware and to surrounding states," said Secretary of Agriculture Michael T. Scuse. The spotted lanternfly is a destructive invasive plant hopper that attacks many hosts including trees, shrubs, orchards, grapes, and hops. For more detailed information regarding the quarantine, permitting, treatment, or to report a sighting of spotted lanternfly, visit the Delaware Department of Agriculture’s dedicated spotted lanternfly webpage or call the dedicated spotted lanternfly hotline at (302) 698-4632.

On June 1, a new regulation was published in the Delaware Register of Regulations (Volume 26, Issue 12) listing potbellied pigs and feral swine of any kind as invasive. The Delaware Department of Agriculture (DDA) is providing a 30-day grace period for potbellied pig owners to apply for an Invasive Animal Permit. Owners have until August 12 to submit an application and comply with 3 DE Admin. Code 906 Possession, Sale, or Exhibition of Non-Native and Invasive Animal Species.

The Maryland Department of Agriculture has confirmed the first spotted lanternfly hatch of 2020. The first instar nymph of the season was reported by a department employee while surveying for the pest in the upper northeast corner of Cecil County near the Pennsylvania border.

See additional resources on the Maryland Department of Agriculture's site for Spotted Lanternfly for up-to-date information.

The Maryland Department of Agriculture (MDA) expanded its spotted lanternfly quarantine.  A quarantine order first issued by the state secretary of agriculture in October 2019 for Harford and Cecil counties is still in effect, but has been expanded this year to also include: Anne Arundel, Baltimore, Carroll, Frederick, Howard, Kent, Montgomery and Washington counties, as well as Baltimore City. This quarantine is effective immediately, and restricts the movement of regulated articles that might contain the spotted lanternfly in any of its life stages, including egg masses, nymphs, and adults.

See additional resources on the Maryland Department of Agriculture's site for Spotted Lanternfly for up-to-date information. For questions related to the quarantine, permitting, treatment, or to report a sighting of the spotted lanternfly, especially outside of the quarantine zone, call 410-841-5920 or email DontBug.MD@maryland.gov. If you report a spotted lanternfly via email, please provide the location of the sighting and your contact information.

Farmers in the southeastern U.S. struggle with the invasive guava root-knot nematode, a microscopic roundworm, which infects and damages a variety of crops, particularly sweetpotatoes. To combat this worm, ARS researchers at the U.S. Vegetable Laboratory in Charleston, South Carolina, have identified a sweetpotato line from the agency’s expansive germplasm collection that has shown high levels of resistance to the guava root-knot nematode as well as resistance to other crop insects.

A 4-H student presenting a project at the Kansas State Fair has inadvertently triggered a state and federal investigation into a nasty, unwelcome bug. The student found the spotted lanternfly in Thomas County in western Kansas and included it in a 4-H entomology display.

The Georgia Department of Agriculture (GDA) announced, in coordination with USDA and the University of Georgia, confirmation of the detection of a living yellow-legged hornet (Vespa velutina) in Savannah, Georgia. This is the first detection of a live yellow-legged hornet in the open U.S., which was confirmed on Aug 9, 2023. GDA is asking the public to report any sightings of the yellow-legged hornet, a non-native hornet species, that, if allowed to establish in Georgia, could potentially threaten honey production, native pollinators, and our state’s number one industry - agriculture. See more information about the yellow-legged hornet, including how to report sightings.

Officials at the U.S. Department of the Interior (DOI) announced in June 2017 that DOI would coordinate with the Western Governors' Association, states, tribes, federal agencies, and other partners in a project to help strengthen existing efforts to address invasive mussels. The actions described in the 2017 report, Safeguarding the West from Invasive Species, Actions to Strengthen Federal, State, and Tribal Coordination to Address Invasive Mussels [PDF, 1.3 MB], vary from policy and program reviews to on-the-ground efforts to prevent, contain, and control invasive mussels. One recommendation in Safeguarding the West was the development of a reference manual to facilitate rapid response activities in the event of mussel introductions in the Columbia River Basin. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service recently finalized and released this manual, Dreissenid Mussel Rapid Response in the Columbia River Basin: Recommended Practices to Facilitate Endangered Species Act Section 7 Compliance (Oct 2019) [PDF, 4.3 MB].

The Michigan departments of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy and Natural Resources confirmed a report of didymo, a nuisance freshwater alga, in a stretch of the Upper Manistee River in Kalkaska County. Also known as rock snot despite its coarse, woolly texture, didymo can grow into thick mats that cover the river bottom. The Manistee River finding marks the first detection of didymo blooms in the Lower Peninsula. In 2015, extensive mats of didymo were found on the Michigan side of the St. Marys River near Sault Ste. Marie in the Upper Peninsula.

If you observe didymo in the water, either as small, cotton ball-sized patches or thick blankets with rope-like strings that flow in currents, take photos, note the location and report it by using the Midwest Invasive Species Information Network, available online at MISIN.MSU.edu or as a downloadable smartphone app. The MISIN smartphone app will take a GPS location point if a report is made at the site; it also will allow you to upload photos with a report. Find more information on didymo and how to identify it at Michigan.gov/Invasives.

The University of Guam received another round of funding in September under the U.S. Department of Agriculture Plant Protection Act for the surveying and monitoring of invasive pests of solanaceous crops that are on USDA’s Priority Pest List for 2021. Solanaceae, or nightshades, are a family of flowering plants that include tomato, eggplant, and chili pepper. As part of the national effort this year, UOG was awarded $38,000 to survey and monitor for two pests: Tuta absoluta, which is a moth and type of leafminer capable of destroying an entire crop, and Ralstonia solanacearum race 3 biovar 2, which is a bacterium, known as a bacterial wilt, that infects through the roots and is deadly to plants.

The work through UOG better prepares the island to manage these invasive species if or when they arrive. "There are certain pathogens and insects that have a reputation of being really bad. These are two of them," said project lead Robert L. Schlub, a researcher and faculty member of UOG Cooperative Extension and Outreach with a doctorate in plant pathology. "They aren’t on Guam, but if they show up, we want to know so we can help get them under control."

The lighting of USDA's Jamie L. Whitten Building is part of Invasive Plant Pest and Disease Awareness Month and United Nations International Year of the Plant Health Celebrations.

Harvesting and eating invasive plants may add a new dimension to “local foods.” Many invasive plants and animals started out as old world food that escaped from colonial gardens.

An Ecological Risk Screening Summary, or Risk Summary, provides a rapid evaluation of a species’ potential invasiveness. These evaluations give us, as well as our natural resource stakeholders and the public, a quick way to determine which species are most likely (high risk) and least likely (low risk) to cause damage if they spread outside of their natural range, and which ones have insufficient information to make such a determination (uncertain risk).
See also: Search the Ecological Risk Screening Summary (ERSS) Database

The Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission (PFBC) announced that it has conducted targeted invasive carp sampling in Presque Isle Bay, Erie County, after the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) detected the presence of Silver Carp environmental DNA (eDNA). While no physical invasive carp specimens have been detected, the PFBC has requested that the USFWS collect additional water samples from Presque Isle Bay in the fall when more favorable environmental conditions are present for eDNA sampling. Members of the public can report sightings of aquatic invasive species to the PFBC using its online form.

Environmental DNA (eDNA) has gone from new science on the block to a star of the show. With just a water, soil, or snow sample, ecologist Tommy Franklin and fellow scientists at the Rocky Mountain Research Station are detecting rare aquatic and terrestrial species by identifying the genetic material they leave behind.

Scientists at the Rocky Mountain Research station recently used eDNA to preserve headwater bull trout populations in a warming climate, track white nose syndrome — a killer bat fungus, and reveal the role of human transport in the spread of invasive northern pike in the Columbia River basin. A recent article highlights eDNA research at the station and features National Genomics Center Director Mike Schwartz.