Last Chance to Win!

The deadline to send in an invasive species news article or blog post and get yourself a chance to win a cool Phragwrites pen is tonight, at midnight! So, what are you waiting for???

What Arkansas

Greetings, northern snakehead: Welcome to the wilds of Arkansas!

The AP is reporting that the northern snakehead (Channa argus) has been discovered for the first time in Arkansas, but if you want the story behind the story, head over to the AgTalk forums, where someone has posted a series of photos, including a whole cooler full of fish pulled from a drainage ditch. Plus, here's a link to an earlier post by the same person, who looks to be the one who made the initial discovery.

Thanks to a member of the ALIENS-L listserver for posting a link to the AgTalk forums.

Seattle Graze

The state of Washington had a trifecta of invasive insects on its doorstep last month, but lucky for Washington state, the door was guarded. According to this press release from US Customs and Border Protection, an inspection of containers arriving from China turned up not only non-native wood wasps, but also bark beetles and dreaded longhorned beetles. The press release doesn't list the exact species, likely because they were found as larvae (inside the wood used as packaging material), which are notoriously difficult to identify. The shipment was denied entry into the US.

Enter The Contest!

Time is running out to enter the ISW's 6th Bloggiversary Contest. Come on, don't you want to win a cool Phragwrites pen?

Beetle Gone South

Somehow, with all the press coverage of the arrival of the Asian lady beetle (Harmonia axyridis) in the UK, the news that the same species had arrived in South Africa around the same time came in way under the radar. This excellent article (pdf) in the South Africa Journal of Science indicates that it has been present there since at least 2004. Menawhile, the Cape Times is reporting that the beetle was discovered last week in Cape Town, and appears to be spreading quite rapidly through the country. Researchers are tracking this spread, and anyone seeing a suspected Asian lady beetle in South Africa [now don't be bugging them with reports from the US!] is encouraged to photograph it and contact Riaan Stals by phone (012 304 9560) or e-mail (stalsr AT arc.agric.za).

Update 04/29/08: The Asian lady beetle has now made its first appearance in Australia, though the specimens that were discovered were, thankfully, dead.

No Spray Zone?

Looks like the Governor of California [trying...so...hard...not to say...THE GOVERNATOR...oh well] is taking the claims of health risks associated with pheromone spraying for the light brown apple moth seriously. The Almanac, among others, is reporting that following the court decision banning spraying in Santa Cruz County, all aerial spraying for LBAM (Epiphyas postvittana) in the state of California will cease until at least mid-August, so that thorough testing can be done to inform the government of the safety (or lack thereof) of the process.

Shout Out Out Out

Want to have your voice heard? The Oregon Public Broadcasting radio show "Think Out Loud" is featuring invasive species on their next episode, to be broadcast live on Thursday, April 24 (tomorrow!) from 9am to 10am Oregon time (uh, I mean "Pacific Daylight Time" :-)).

The folks from TOL emailed me to let me know about the show, and to invite you, ISW readers, to visit their web page and leave comments or post questions for the panel. If you really have something to say, you can call in during the show at 888-665-5865 or 888-665-5TOL.

Oregoners were recently lucky enough to see the debut of a new movie about invasive species, "The Silent Invasion" - the inspiration for this episode of TOL.