Tag Archives: alien species

Stowaways in potted plants

Posted on April 18, 2014 by argylesock

Potted plants can seem so benign. Beautiful, fascinating, good to grow and give, but they may carry invasive species which are not benign. Tom Bawden at The Independent tells us about invasive species reaching Europe, including the New Guinea flatworm … Continue reading →

Posted in ecology, horticulture, money and trade | Tagged alien species, America, Argentine ant, arthropod, Asia, Asian hornet, beetle, biosecurity, coleopteran, Europe, flatworm, garden, harlequin ladybird, herbivore, hymenopteran, insect, invasive species, invertebrate, ladybird, landscape, lepidopteran, light brown apple moth, lily beetle, mollusc, moth, native species, New Guinea flatworm, New Zealand flatworm, oak processionary moth, pest, plant_dicot, plant_gymnosperm, plant_monocot, predator, rosemary leaf beetle, slug, snail, Spanish slug | 5 Comments

Save Britain’s Barn Owls

Posted on March 31, 2014 by argylesock

Originally posted on Green Living London:
A petition has been launched to save Britain’s Barn Owls, which are dying off in their thousands. The changing climate and a loss in their natural habitat is part of the picture, but these iconic…

Posted in ecology | Tagged alien species, anticoagulant, barn owl, bird, bird of prey, bromadiolone, conservation, difenacoum, Europe, mammal, native species, pest, pesticide, poison, predator, rare species, rat, rodent, vertebrate, wildlife | Leave a comment

Oregon Bumblebee Kill Resolution

Posted on December 25, 2013 by argylesock

Originally posted on Living With Insects Blog:
Bumblebee Pollinating a Flower The case of the massive (50,000) bumblebee kill in Oregon has been settled. The court ruled that the bumblebees were killed by improper pesticide application. The pesticide, dinotefutan, was…

Posted in ecology, horticulture, miniculture | Tagged alien species, America, arthropod, bumblebee, conservation, dinotefuran, flower, honeybee, hymenopteran, insect, insecticide, law, neonicotinoid, pesticide, plant_dicot, plant_gymnosperm, pollination, tree, urban park, wild bee | Leave a comment

A new invader to eat rice plants?

Posted on December 13, 2013 by argylesock

The Non-Native Species Secretariat (NNSS) for Britain doesn’t list apple snails (Pomacea canaliculata and P. maculata) as invasive species, but perhaps it should. Apple snails are aquatic. They spread when there’s flooding, when they cling onto larger animals or onto … Continue reading →

Posted in agriculture, ecology, miniculture | Tagged alien species, America, apple snail, aquaculture, Asia, crop, data, farmer, flood, gastropod, heliculture, herbivore, invasive species, map, mollusc, nematode, parasite, parasite transmission, pest, pet, plant_monocot, rice, roundworm, snail, vector, waterway | Leave a comment

Regulated Pests and their Origins

Posted on December 10, 2013 by argylesock

Originally posted on Agriculture Information Bank:
The historic Silk Road system of trade routes across Asia would have been the origin of much of the early human initiated dispersal of many, now cosmopolitan, oriental pest species to Europe and the…

Posted in agriculture, horticulture | Tagged alien species, history, law, pest, quarantine, transport | Leave a comment

Exotic trees

Posted on December 9, 2013 by argylesock

Lewis at woodlands.co.uk tells us about the exotic (alien) trees which are familiar in our British landscapes. Lewis tells us how many of these trees arrived during colonial times when great houses and gardens were built. He doesn’t mention how … Continue reading →

Posted in ecology | Tagged alien species, arboriculture, disease, disease reservoir, ecosystem, forest, garden, hedge, history, human, invasive species, landscape, native species, naturalised species, plant_dicot, plant_gymnosperm, plant_monocot, sugar cane, tree, wood, woodland | Leave a comment

The badger cull – what we know and what we don’t know

Posted on September 30, 2013 by argylesock

Bovine tuberculosis (bTB) is an infectious disease of cattle (Bos primigenius) caused by the bacterium Mycobacterium bovis. You could follow my ‘tuberculosis’ tag. Other animals can get bTB too. In Britain, some people think the native badger (Meles meles) is … Continue reading →

Posted in agriculture, ecology, knowledge transfer | Tagged alien species, bacterium, badger, biosecurity, brushtail possum, cattle, data, deer, disease, farmer, foot and mouth disease, fox, history, knowledge, livestock, mammal, marsupial, mouse, mustelid, Mycobacterium tuberculosis, native species, poison, polecat, politics, research, reservoir, rodent, ruminant, shooting, shrew, squirrel, stoat, tuberculosis, vertebrate, vole, wildlife | 2 Comments

Paving the Way For Invasive Species

Posted on September 29, 2013 by argylesock

Originally posted on Living With Insects Blog:
Horticulturalists help bring beauty to our gardens and landscapes by introducing plants from other parts of the world and breeding them for aesthetic characteristics. In the past, not enough attention was paid to…

Posted in ecology, horticulture | Tagged alder buckthorn, alien species, aphid, arthropod, brimstone butterfly, ecosystem, garden, hemipteran, insect, invasive species, landscape, lepidopteran, native species, pest, plant_dicot, shrub, soybean aphid, tiger moth | Leave a comment

Bovine TB in New Zealand compared to Britain and Ireland

Posted on September 28, 2013 by argylesock

Bovine tuberculosis (bTB) is an infectious disease of cattle (Bos primigenius) caused by the bacterium Mycobacterium bovis. You could follow my ‘tuberculosis’ tag. This disease is zoonotic. That is, M. bovis can infect us as well as cattle. Not very … Continue reading →

Posted in agriculture, ecology, knowledge transfer | Tagged alien species, bacterium, badger, bait, bovine tuberculosis, brushtail possum, disease, disease reservoir, finance, fur, history, human, livestock, mammal, marsupial, mustelid, Mycobacterium bovis, native species, oral vaccination, parental vaccination, pest, research, ruminant, tuberculosis, vaccine, vermin, vertebrate, veterinary, wildlife, zoonosis | 8 Comments

The advance of the Asian hornet creates a buzz in the UK media

Posted on September 17, 2013 by argylesock

argylesock says… Here’s another threat to the honeybee (Apis mellifera). The Asian hornet (Vespa velutina) is now established in France and no doubt, it’ll soon reach the British Isles. The article I’m reblogging here includes info on how we can … Continue reading →

Posted in ecology, miniculture | Tagged alien species, apiculture, arthropod, Asian hornet, entomoculture, honeybee, hornet, hymenopteran, insect, invasive species, predator | 2 Comments