Halyomorpha halys, lycorma delicatula, popillia japonica, and dreissena polymorpha. Do those names perhaps ring a bell? If not, what about these? The stink bug, japanese beetle, spotted lanternfly, and zebra mussel. You’ve definitely heard of those common names.
Whether it be stink bugs inside the house during winter or the spotted lanternfly nesting on the trees next to your house. These pesky insects are what is classified as an invasive species under the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Invasive species harm the ecosystem and destroy the biodiversity that we have. More emphasis should be placed on preventing the spread of such species and having better protection against them.
But how do they spread? The brown marmorated stink bug is native to asian regions such as Japan, China, and Korea. Since its arrival in the U.S. stink bugs have affected most of eastern U.S.A and some states on the west coast.
This begs the question, did the bug arrive by itself or some other external force? If you guessed by external force, you’d be correct! Coming here sometime in the late 1990’s, their first sighting was in Pennsylvania. Due to the ecosystem of the U.S, the stinkbug had few natural predators and abundant amounts of food, leading to its fast and aggressive spread. They’ve caused millions of dollars of damage to the agriculture industry and forests. Most invasive species come to a new environment by accidental entry. So what can we do to prevent this from happening?
Follow New Zealand and how they stopped invasive species. Unlike other countries, they’ve committed to protecting biodiversity and took measures to counter it. New Zealand is home to thousands of species, some are only able to be found in New Zealand. With that in mind, invasive species can take over the natural habitats of the species or kill them. Conserving species is important to prevent their extinction and maintain biodiversity.
New Zealand has strict regulations for imports and exports. Importing goods is a common way for a species to be introduced to a new environment. They can easily slip detection, especially if they’re not fully grown yet like a seed or bug larva. That’s how most of them come to America, and most aren’t detected until they’ve caused havoc on the ecosystem. Early detection also helped out New Zealand in controlling them. Citizens can report sightings of invasive species so that the government is quicker to exterminate them instead of waiting. The faster the government acts, the less damage is caused.
The size of the U.S. contributes to the slowler action against the predators. Some can live in the U.S.A in a rural area until they’ve decided to locate to a much bigger place. This is not good because that means the species had time to establish themselves among our native species.
So what can we learn from a country that has prided themselves on keeping their native species alive? The U.S needs to have stricter checks on imports especially. The U.S imports most of their goods, which means hundreds of shipping containers entering our ports. We should regulate and regularly check these imports for signs of invasive species. Citizens should report sightings of species that don’t seem native to their area.
Though these steps can be taken to slow down and stop most entry of invasive species, we can’t stop them all. Even if you have strict protocols, some are bound to slip through the cracks. But having a procedure against them is better than having none.