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ORLANDO, Fla. (FOX 35 ORLANDO) - The City of Orlando is seeing success after releasing air potato leaf beetles to manage an invasive weed.
In June, city officials released ten of the tiny red beetles onto three acres of city-owned property at Commander Drives and Turnbull Drives. Since then, they have been eating their way through an invasive plant called the Air Potato Vine.
“I’d say maybe they’ve gotten 30-40 percent of the vines,” said Jody Buyas, Natural Resource Manager for the City of Orlando. She expects the beetles will continue to eat through the heart-shaped leaves, helping to manage the weed.
The Air Potato Vine can easily smother plants and trees and can grow up to 65 feet long. The vine is not native to Florida and our ecosystem lacks natural predators for the plant.
The City of Orlando reached out to the University of Florida to get the free potato beetles.
The bugs are helping to clean up the property so the neighborhood can enjoy it.
“We really just wanted to try and keep it a nice, natural greenspace for the neighborhood,” said Buyas.
People interested in getting their own potato beetles for free can reach out to the University of Florida.