Between 1969 and 1972, the US released a European weevil to fight invasive musk thistle; it later attacked at least 25 native thistles, including rare and endangered species
Rhinocyllus conicus (Image Credit: Canva) A biological control programme launched in the United States more than five decades ago has become a cautionary example of how attempts to manage invasive species can produce unexpected ecological consequences. According to a USDA Forest Service assessment of invasive species in the Southwest, the thistle seedhead weevil (Rhinocyllus conicus)…
