The Lilioceris Cheni beetle was released into the wild Thursday as part of a test project to eradicate the Air Potato plant, an invasive plant that has destroyed agricultural lands, parks, gardens and residential backyards.
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This invasive plant has been found throughout the warm weather states in the southern region of the United States from Florida to Texas, directly effecting Miami-Dade County. The Air Potato has also been found in Canada and Mexico.
The efforts to use the beetle to eradicate the invasive plant began in 2011 in a team effort by The Miami-Dade Parks, Recreation and Open Spaces Department’s Natural Areas Management Division, the US Department of Agriculture and the TERRA High School Environmental Research Institute of Kendall.
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“The Air Potato situation is urgently in need of a remedy for which currently there is none,” said Dr. Min Rayamajhi, a plant pathologist with the USDA’s Agricultural Research Service’s Invasive Plant Research Unit.
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Thursday’s release of the beetle hopes to be the final conclusive 12-month trial-run of using the beetles to control Air Potato.
Test results and proving whether this is successful, is expected to be announced later this year.
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