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The Independent UK
The Independent UK
National
Michelle Gumede

Scientists hope hungry weevils from Louisiana can tackle South Africa's invasive water plants

South Africa Helpful Weevils - (Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.)

Dozens of tiny black weevils cling onto a fern plant as it is tossed onto a leafy green mat coating the surface of South Africa's Crocodile River.

Those weevils aren't tossed into the river by accident: scientists hope that the insects and their larvae will munch their way through the green mat, which is made up of an unwanted, invasive South American aquatic plant called Salvinia minima.

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