Kudzu-eating bug spreads outside Georgia
Ask someone to name Georgia’s most prized export and you’ll get varied responses.
'I'm from the government and I'm here to help.'
Peaches, pecans, peanuts (we like P’s) and exotic dancers are among our many claims to fame.
But what about plataspids? Bean plataspids to be precise.
Sounds yummy, but you’d best not eat them. After all, it’s what THEY eat that makes them special — the tiny insects devour kudzu, the South’s least favorite plant.
The Athens Banner-Herald reports the bugs, first found in Georgia near Athens, have spread to almost all of Georgia, South Carolina, a big chunk of North Carolina and four Alabama counties.
You can’t blame them for avoiding Mississippi.
The bugs fly high, so recent winds from Hurricane Irene may have shot the little guys clear up to Canada, where, believe it or not, kudzu grows.
Researchers in Athens say the insects reduce the amount of kudzu foliage by a third in test plots. They also dine on another pesky plant, Wisteria, which has the good manners to at least be pretty when blooming.
The news isn’t all good: Other members of the legume family considered useful (and profitable) — peanuts and soybeans — are also targeted by the tiny winged beasts.
Kudzu — which can grow a foot a day — became widespread in the ’30s and ’40s when the U.S. government planted it far and wide to reduce soil erosion. It’s taken over vast swaths since — spreading at the rate of 150,000 acres per year.
Bean plataspids, unlike struggling artists, will never go hungry.
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31 comments Add your comment
Chuck Allison
August 30th, 2011
6:31 am
Wisteria? We really don’t want them to eliminate Wisteria!
Chuck Allison
August 30th, 2011
6:34 am
I had rather put up with kudzu than to lose okra and green beans. Somebody better come up with a good pesticide right away.
Lumpy
August 30th, 2011
7:33 am
Two bad things do not equal a good thing… You can control kudzu if you keep it killed for three years or so, but these bugs could be much worse.
GBO
August 30th, 2011
8:30 am
A country guy was asked many years ago on a tv show what he thought about Jimmy Carter. He said, “There are only tow things of significance that ever came out of Georgia, Jimmy Carter and Kudzu”. He reckoned he liked the kudzu better.
Alex
August 30th, 2011
8:41 am
WDIK: You are the government. remember “for the people, OF the people and BY the people.” If there is a problem, it’s you and the people you elect.
Alex
August 30th, 2011
8:46 am
I was not particularly fond of Carter as President, but the revisionist blathering is annoying. He was not a horrible president. Not a great president, but not that bad, either. It was a difficult time and he never won the confidence of his own party, partly due to Ted Kennedy.
Some accomplishments as president:
Panama Canal treaties
Camp David Accords
treaty of peace between Egypt and Israel
the SALT II treaty with the Soviet Union
establishment of U.S. diplomatic relations with the People’s Republic of China
comprehensive energy program conducted by a new Department of Energy
deregulation in energy, transportation, communications, and finance
educational programs under a new Department of Education
environmental protection legislation, including the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act.
Madison
August 30th, 2011
8:47 am
Enter your comments here
The Big Bopper
August 30th, 2011
8:52 am
“First, even beat the Bean Plataspids!!!”
No one cares.
Rabbit
August 30th, 2011
8:55 am
If Carter’s successor hadn’t repealed the policy requiring more fuel efficient vehicles, we might be 30 years farther along toward energy independence — and maybe there would never have been such a thing as a street ready Hummer or an Escalade or Excursion.
joe
August 30th, 2011
9:22 am
So I guess Rabbit would rather eliminate free market choices and force us to drive compact, pieces-o-crap…like VW RABBITs. Move to SF if you don’t like it. If our current leader would authorize drilling here at home, we wouldn’t have to pay $3.50+ per gallon and support islamic nations in the process who are dead set on killing us. Carter was the 2nd worst president of all time, right behind our current socialist-in-chief.