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Invasive plant meets its match when weevils come calling

July 23: They look like poppy seeds with legs as they tumble out of two pint containers and onto the leaves of a scraggly vine sunning itself near a pine tree. But looks deceive. In a split second, the 500 bugs attack the plant like vegan conventioneers at an all-you-can-eat salad bar, chewing the leaves and burrowing into the stems. These are some of the smallest state employees -- weevils, actually -- doing work usually carried out by chemicals and earth-moving equipment. Their meal is an invasive Asian plant that arrived in York County, Pa., in the mid-1930s and has spread since to 12 East Coast states.<br><br> <a href="http://www.baltimoresun.com/business/bs-md-good-highway-bugs-20120712,0,2281186.story"><b>Read the full story.</b></A>

( Kim Hairston / July 26, 2012 )

July 23: They look like poppy seeds with legs as they tumble out of two pint containers and onto the leaves of a scraggly vine sunning itself near a pine tree. But looks deceive. In a split second, the 500 bugs attack the plant like vegan conventioneers at an all-you-can-eat salad bar, chewing the leaves and burrowing into the stems. These are some of the smallest state employees -- weevils, actually -- doing work usually carried out by chemicals and earth-moving equipment. Their meal is an invasive Asian plant that arrived in York County, Pa., in the mid-1930s and has spread since to 12 East Coast states.

Read the full story.

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