Biological Controls

At Ada County Weed and Pest Control, we constantly strive to find the newest, safest, and most effective means of protecting our environment from noxious weeds. We have several difficult weed problems in Ada County that are prime candidates for biological control. In the foothills, we have released three agents for the control of Rush Skeletonweed. Presently, a rust spore that attacks the stems, a midge that attacks the stems, and a mite that attacks the seed head have been introduced or spread by the weed control department.

Ada County weed control regularly collects, releases, and monitors a leaf-eating beetle that attacks Purple Loosestrife. This plant is difficult to control because it drops its seeds into the areas waterways. Purple Loosestrife seeds can spread long distances in our waterways, which makes spraying them an unattractive alternative. While the beetle is not eradicating the plants entirely, they reduce vigor and seed production, and have been a very useful tool in the war on weeds.

Spotted and Diffuse Knapweeds are being targeted for the release of the Lesser Knapweed Flower Weevil. (Larinus Minutus)

This weevil is a new find in this county and is the result of previous releases in other areas. Now that we have found this bio-agent in our county, we are attempting to foster its numbers and spread.
Biological control programs are not the only answer to our weed problems. In many cases, the release of the available bio-agents, are most clearly described as experimental. Ada County Weed and Pest Control is working with several state and federal agencies in the search and development of other bio-control agents that offer a safe and effective supplement of our program of noxious weed control.

See this link to the Animal, Plant, Health Inspection Service (USDA) website, to learn more about Biological Controls at the federal level. They have recently renewed their focus on noxious weeds nationwide.
Another useful website is the National Invasive Species Council, this site discusses the impacts of noxious weeds, the species of concern, and the governments responses to these problem weeds.