Roger Olstad:
> All you Montlake loosestrife pullers (and others) will be interested in
> this message about an alternate way to possibly control this noxious
> weed....I wonder what else they will eat when (if) the loosestrife runs
> out??? Haven't we been here before????

Yeah, cinnabar moth and tansy ragwort. It's worked really well, and as
far as I know it hasn't begun munching anything else. Moths and butterflies
are often very host-specific. This makes them great candidates for
introduction for the control of exotic plant pests, and also is one
reason why they're vulnerable to extinction.

Clearly, any attempt at biological control should be very, very carefully
tested and we should be wary of the potential downside, but I don't think
we should write off the possibility in knee-jerk fashion.

- Don Baccus, Portland OR <donb at rational.com>
Nature photos, on-line guides, at http://www.xxxpdx.com/~dhogaza