Milfoil Weevil as a Solution to Invasive Milfoil
Wednesday, August 26th, 2009 Subscribe To Our Feed
Milfoil weevils may be more helpful to local habitats and humanity than anyone recognizes. This weevil may prove it usefulness in eating milfoil and restoring the health of an ecosystem while causing no harm to humans.
In the United States., there are two sorts of milfoil. There is a native one and an invasive species of Eurasian milfoil. The native species is not a problem but the Eurasian one is a major environmental menace. The milfoil weevil now enjoys great popularity thanks to its love for the Eurasian Milfoil.
Eurasian Milfoil (the primary milfoil that will be referenced from this point on) probably came to America between the 1800’s and the 19404’s as an undesirable passenger on some large ship. Milfoil can easily travel on the bottom of a boat and grow rapidly, which causes damaging ecological changes and causes problems for mankind. Luckily this can spread the milfoil weevil as well.
It spreads quickly and demolishes ecosystems by choking out the indigenous flora life which reduces food for water fowl, reduces habitat for fry, and reducing fishing by creatures. The large mats it forms reduce the oxygenation of water by wind that leads to stressed fish and algae blooms.
For mankind, milfoil growth means a loss of boating, swimming, fishing and waterskiing areas. For residential areas, the dense mats can choke water intakes or overflows, causing water shortages in some places and flooding in others. Milfoil mats can even cause dam generators to choke or break resulting in lower power production.
The milfoil weevil may well be the solution to this flora epidemic. The milfoil weevil favors Eurasian milfoil to the indigenous variety, which means that the invasive species are destroyed over time and native floras are allowed to bit by bit recover. Coupled with a high breeding rate, the weevil is the safe and ideal answer to the milfoil problem. When taking into account how quick the milfoil propagates, it is obvious that weevils are the perfect answer to controlling the problem.
It spreads when small pieces break off and sink to the bottom, there they take root. Aquatic harvesting devices are not productive because they break the flora and pieces come off and replant themselves elsewhere. Vacuum dredging works a little better because no broken pieces are left behind, but at the same time the vacuum disrupts the water and may leave no flora life at the bottom.
With a taste for Eurasia milfoil rather than the native milfoil, the weevil eats the flora from the inside out, ultimately demolishing the whole flora. With only 30 days to live, the milfoil weevils will go through three generations before coming ashore for the 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.
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