We are pleased to announce a new article on Featured Creatures!
Take a sneak peek with this excerpt from the article: Bagous affinis Hustache (Figure 1) is a semi-aquatic weevil that feeds on the aquatic invasive plant Hydrilla verticillata (L.f.) Royle. The larvae of the weevil mine hydrilla tubers, and the adults feed on the submerged stems and leaves. The weevil was discovered during surveys for biological control agents for hydrilla in Pakistan in 1980 and was first introduced to the U.S. in Florida from India in 1987. A closely related weevil from Australia, Bagous hydrillae O’Brien (Insecta: Coleoptera: Curculionidae), was introduced to the U.S. in 1991.
Figure 1. Adults of the hydrilla tuber weevil, Bagous affinis on a tuber of Hydrilla verticillata. Photograph by Gary Buckingham, USDA-Agricultural Research Service.
Available at: http://entnemdept.ufl.edu/creatures/BENEFICIAL/Bagous_affinis.htm
Author: Emma Weeks, Entomology and Nematology Department, University of Florida
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