Listronotus elongatus, a South American weevil CABI
Housed in a plastic food container and measuring just 0.5 centimetres long, the weevil doesn’t look very menacing. Yet this specimen of Listronotus elongatus is the UK’s latest hope in a new wave of biological ways to control invasive species rather than using unsustainable chemical and mechanical methods.
The South American creature’s target is floating pennywort (Hydrocotyle ranunculoides), an invasive plant that chokes rivers and lakes by creating heavy floating mats, cutting water oxygen levels and outcompeting native plants.
The weevil I saw – in a lab belonging to the
