Invasive Species

    

This looks like your average toad, right? Wrong! This is a cane toad, a species of toad that is taking over Australia as you read this!

Cane toads were originally imported from South America to eat the sugar cane beetles that were devouring the farmer’s crops. However, they ate more than sugar cane beetles. Cane toads had no natural predators, and a great abundance of natural food. This is a bad mix for the lives of the native organisms. To make matters worse, cane toads are highly toxic, and whatever organism eats it will die. They ooze white poison from a gland on the side of their body. You can research whether or not your country has cane toads, and if they are a problem in your country, do not touch any brown amphibian you see(unless it’s a salamander)!

 These white gobs are the killer poison.

Here is a case of invasive species you may be more familiar with, especially if you live in the southern United States. The case of the invasive brown stinkbug! Probably every stinkbug you see is brown. When you see a green stinkbug, you may find it unusual. Once, the brown stinkbug was an unusual sight. What happened? When these new brown stinkbugs were introduced, they had less natural predators, and were better equipped for competition than the green ones. Therefore, the brown ones took over. You can help monitor this by participating in SciStarter project Brown Marmorated Stinkbug Project(http://www.scistarter.com/project/663-Brown%20marmorated%20stink%20bug%20locations?tab=project)

Here is another unusual case of invasive species:  The invasive lionfish!

This is quite an extravagant display! These fancy fins are actually poison spears! Lionfish live in shallow waters and eat small fish and mollusks. These fish have a large appetite, and if their population unnaturally explodes, it can result in disaster. Now, lionfish are eating their way through the Atlantic ---- at a faster speed than sharks can eat them! The trouble all started when only six lionfish were released from an aquarium. This shows how only a few non-native species can cause disaster in a new environment. What can you do? Don’t release any pet that you want to get rid of or  give the pet an opportunity to escape(unless it is an outdoor cat or dog!).  Advertise the pet on a local bulletin board, or in your neighborhood. You can even say on the flyer not to release in the wild!