For years I've battled air potato vine, which can strangle entire trees. The battle raged on a couple fronts: First, spraying the invasive vine with Roundup, which increasingly appears to be mother's milk to the weed (apparently air potato vine has become resistant to Roundup). I would also go about collecting the potatoes from the ground, and sometimes paid my kids 10 cents per potato so that we could hunt them all down and eliminate the source.
But this year, something changed in the war. Something was chewing them to shreds, while leaving all my other vegetation untouched. Gradually the air potato vines have been receding, thanks to this hidden marauder. Curious, I googled it and found out that the State of Florida has discovered a predator of the air potato vine and has been releasing beetles for a couple of years now. They've finally made their way to me, apparently.
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