invasive species

What grows up to eight inches long, is dark with a white band, can leap a foot in the air and is the latest threat to California’s forest ecosystems?  The answer is the Asian jumping worm (Amynthas agrestis), a uniquely mobile species of earthworm with an impressive appetite that was sighted in the state for […]

In Gran Canaria, part of the Canary Islands, police have recovered 139 animals, most of which were invasive species and several of which are dangerous. The lineup includes iguanas, pythons, giant African snails, and caimans. Authorities, part of the Seprona environmental division of the Guardia Civil, investigated the property after the owner died, and word […]

In some urban areas, street trees are the only close reminder of the wild natural world beyond the city limits of concrete and steel. A new study estimates that by 2050, 1.4 million street trees in the U.S. ⁠— which make up only a fraction of total urban trees ⁠— will be killed by invasive insects.

By Frank A. Hale The spotted lanternfly was first detected in Pennsylvania in 2014 and has since spread to 26 counties in that state and at least six other eastern states. It’s moving into southern New England, Ohio and Indiana. This approximately 1-inch-long species from Asia has attractive polka-dotted front wings but can infest and […]

By Federico Kacoliris The El Rincon stream frog only lives in hot springs at the headwaters of a small Patagonian stream. With just a handful of decimated populations remaining, the critically endangered frog is struggling to survive. Species name: El Rincon stream frog, also known as the Somuncura or Valcheta frog (Pleurodema somuncurense) Description: This […]

By Jenny Morber Caribbean corals sprout off Texas. Pacific salmon tour the Canadian Arctic. Peruvian lowland birds nest at higher elevations. In the past 100 years, the planet has warmed in the range of 10 times faster than it did on average over the past 5,000. In response, thousands of species are traveling poleward, climbing […]

At least 27 states have warned their residents not to plant any seeds they receive from mysterious, unsolicited packages that appear to have been sent from China, The New York Times reported Sunday. Agriculture officials also told anyone who received one of the packages to alert authorities. They are worried the seeds could harm the […]

By John R. Platt It takes a lot of effort and more than a little bit of luck for researchers like André Raine to get to the remote mountaintops of Kauai, where they’re working to save endangered Hawaiian seabirds from extinction. First you need a helicopter capable of reaching sites more than 4,600 feet above […]