Japanese insect could halt British invasion by Japanese Knotweed plant

Lewis Smith, Environment Reporter A tiny sap-sucking insect from Japan could be introduced to the British countryside next summer to bring our most invasive plant under control. The 2mm insect, Aphalara itadori, is a type of psyllid — jumping plant lice — that eats Japanese knotweed in its homeland and has been put forward as a biological solution to curbing the spread of the plant in Britain. The plant louse would be the first biocontrol deliberately imported into Britain but would raise fears of an ecological disaster on the scale of cane toads in Australia in the 1930s. A public consultation is expected to be launched in the next few months on the acceptability of the insects. Japanese knotweed, introduced as an ornamental plant in the Victorian era, has colonised almost all of Britain. Using chemicals and other... [read full story]