The Milfoil weevil is a small water bug that may be able to rescue troubled ecosystems. This weevil may prove it usefulness in eating milfoil and reestablishing the health of an ecosystem while causing no harm to people.
In the U.S., there are two types of milfoil. There is a native one and an invasive species of Eurasian milfoil. indigenous milfoil is simply annoying, but the offensive species is a threat to all bodies of water in North America. Eurasian Milfoil is the reason the milfoil weevil is so significant.
Eurasian Milfoil (the primary milfoil that will be referenced from this point on) probably came to The Us between the 1800’s and the 19404’s as an unwanted passenger on some large ship. Milfoil can easily travel on the undersurface of a ship and grow rapidly, which causes terrible ecological changes and causes problems for humanity. Luckily this can spread the milfoil weevil as well.
Milfoil spreads quickly, which results in less growth for indigenous floras, less food for some creatures and less living habitat for small marine creatures. Milfoil mats decrease the oxygen in the water, which can endanger fish and cause unhealthy algae growth.
The milfoil is more irritating for people than harmful because it can lower the amount of water available for boating, fishing, bathing and waterskiing. Residential Districts are more adversely affected as the mats can choke intake and overflow pipes ensuing in flooding or droughts. Milfoil mats can even cause dam generators to clog or break resulting in lower power production.
The milfoil weevil could well be the answer to this flora epidemic. The fact that it is native favors Eurasian milfoil over indigenous milfoil, and kills the colonies bit by bit, giving indigenous species time to recover, make this the ideal. With a high reproduction rate and a taste for milfoil, the milfoil weevil and a smart and safe way to remove the unwanted milfoil. When looking at how the milfoil propagates it becomes clear and why milfoil weevils control it so well.
It spreads when little pieces break off and sink to the bottom, there they take root. Using large marine reapers are not the answer as the break up the milfoil too much and it grows right back. Vacuum dredging is a small better in that it gets the small pieces, but cause a great deal of water disruption and leaves the bottom bare, so it will need replanting with indigenous species.
The milfoil weevil though prefers Eurasian to native milfoil so it eats that first, slowly weeding it out by tunneling into the stems and eating it from the inside out. With a short life span (milfoil weevils live about thirty days) at least 3 generations will live and die till they head to the land to winter. The weevils do have wings, but have never been seen flying, so whether they swim or fly ashore will remain a mystery. Irrespective, once there they survive even the harshest Minnesota winters.
Filed under: Every Day Life
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