Giant African Land Snails Invading Miami: 117,000 Caught So Far (PHOTOS, VIDEO)

By Barbara Liston

ORLANDO, Florida (Reuters) - South Florida is fighting a growing infestation of one of the world's most destructive invasive species: the giant African land snail, which can grow as big as a rat and gnaw through stucco and plaster.

More than 1,000 of the mollusks are being caught each week in Miami-Dade and 117,000 in total since the first snail was spotted by a homeowner in September 2011, said Denise Feiber, a spokeswoman for the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services.

Residents will soon likely begin encountering them more often, crunching them underfoot as the snails emerge from underground hibernation at the start of the state's rainy season in just seven weeks, Feiber said.

The snails attack "over 500 known species of plants ... pretty much anything that's in their path and green," Feiber said.

In some Caribbean countries, such as Barbados, which are overrun with the creatures, the snails' shells blow out tires on the highway and turn into hurling projectiles from lawnmower blades, while their slime and excrement coat walls and pavement.

"It becomes a slick mess," Feiber said.

Continued:  http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/04/15/giant-african-land-snails-miami-117000_n_3079741.html?utm_hp_ref=weird-news&ir=Weird%20News

New Control Strategies for 'Bipolar' Bark Beetles

Jan. 25, 2013 — Population explosions of pine beetles, which have been decimating North American forests in recent decades, may be prevented by boosting competitor and predator beetle populations, a Dartmouth study suggests.

Bark beetles are the most destructive forest pests worldwide. Management and climate change have resulted in younger, denser forests that are even more susceptible to attack. Though intensively studied for decades, until now an understanding of bark beetle population dynamics -- extreme ups and downs -- has remained elusive.

The Dartmouth-led study, published in the January issue of the journal Population Ecology, confirmed, for the first time, that the abundance of a certain animal species -- in this case the southern pine beetle -- fluctuates innately between extremes, with no middle ground.

"That is different from most species, such as deer, warblers and swallowtail butterflies, whose populations tend to be regular around some average abundance based on food, weather, and other external factors," says Matt Ayres, a professor in the Department of Biological Sciences at Dartmouth and senior author on the paper. "They don't appear and disappear in cycles. Rather, they exist in two stable equilibrium states -- one of high abundance and the other of scarcity." Once the population pendulum swings toward the high end, it won't quickly or easily swing back.

Read on:  http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/01/130125104204.htm