Milfoil Weevil as a Barrier to Invasive Milfoil

Milfoil weevils  could be more helpful to local habitats and humans than anyone recognizes. This small bug could be  very helpful because it eats the invasive plant known as milfoil and places no threat to  mankind.
 
There are two types of milfoil to be found in the Us. There is a  indigenous one and an invasive species of Eurasian milfoil. The indigenous species is not a trouble but the Eurasian one is a major environmental menace. Eurasian Milfoil is the reason the milfoil weevil is so important.  
 
Eurasian milfoil  (from this point forward all milfoil will be considered Eurasian  milfoil unless otherwise noted) was most probably introduced to the United States sometime between the late 1800’s to 1940’s as either a stowaway on a Boats ballast or tossed  shipping material. Because of its ability to travel on boat anchors,  bottoms, and propellors it spread widely, bringing with it drastic ecological shifts and  extra problems for humanity.   This is also a great way to spread  the milfoil weevil as well.
 
  Milfoil spreads quickly, which results in less growth for indigenous plants, less food for  some creatures and less living habitat for small aquatic creatures.  The large mats it forms cuts the oxygenation of water by wind that leads  to stressed fish and algae blooms.
 
For mankind, it cuts the recreational uses of the water by bathers, watermen, and  fisherman.   In  residential areas, the dense mats may cause floods and droughts because of clogged intake or  overflow pipes.   Milfoil mats can even cause dam generators to clog or break  resulting in lower electricity production.  
 
The milfoil weevil could  well be the solution to this plant epidemic.   Eurasia milfoil is a favorite of the milfoil weevil rather than the  indigenous kind; this results in the invasive species being step by step destroyed and native  plants slowly returning to their natural place. With a high reproduction  rate and a taste for milfoil, the milfoil weevil and a smart and safe way to remove the  unwanted milfoil.   The weevils are a clear solution to the milfoil problem, peculiarly considering the rate  at which the flora spreads.  
 
It spreads when small pieces break off and sink to the bottom, there they take root. Aquatic  harvesting devices are not successful because they break the flora and pieces come off and  replant themselves elsewhere. Vacuum dredging is only slightly more productive in that it catches little broken pieces,  but it also causes a great disruption in the water and can strip the bottom of all floras. 
 
The milfoil weevil though prefers Eurasian to indigenous milfoil so it eats that first,  slowly weeding it out by tunneling into the stems and eating it from the inside out. Weevils  have a short life, living no more than 30 days, so before the winter comes, three  generations will live and die before they come ashore for the winter. Although they have wings they have rarely been know to fly so no one know if milfoil weevils fly to land or swim.   Once established in a habitat, the milfoil weevil will live even through the coldest Minnesota winters.