Who would have thought that farmers would be on the look out for a giant snail the size of an adult fist, that has a very large appetite and is known to feed on 500 different plants? This is only one of the numerous invasive species that the Cooperative Agricultural Pest Survey (CAPS) program will be looking for during the year 2011. Among the other exotic species are the cottonseed bug (
Oxycarenus hyalinipennis), Egyptian broomrape (
Orobanche aegyptiaca), Benghal dayflower (
Commelina benghalensis) and the pink hibiscus mealybug (
Maconellicoccus hirsutus). Today, the opportunity for invasive species to adapt and spread is great and they have demonstrated the ability to do so.
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