I started the “Invasive Species of the Week” series over on my Instagram, where every Sunday I would post a story highlighting an invasive species and some facts about it. Since I didn’t want to leave the blog out of it, I decided I would make a compilation of all the “Invasive Species of the Week” and put it in one post per month!

So, without further ado, here are the invasive species for October.

Week of Sunday, October 15 (first post in the series):

The Common Bed Bug

This bug can be managed by:

• Personal hygiene
• Washing bedding in very hot water
• Steam
• Certain insecticides/chemicals that can be applied by professionals

Week of Sunday, October 22:

The European Starling

This bird is managed using:

• Anti-perching or sonic (bird deterrent) devices
• Hunting or trapping
• Nonlethal chemical options (pain receptor activators)
• Lethal chemical controls

Fun Fact: These birds arrived in North America because a member of the American Acclimatization Society in 1890 wanted to introduce all the bird species mentioned in Shakespeare’s works! This included the European Starling…

Week of Sunday, October 29:

The Lionfish

The lionfish can be managed by:

• Hunting and removal (divers are often encouraged to help)
• Trapping (a system is under development)

Fun Fact: There are many cool community projects to reduce lionfish populations!

• There are annual competitions in Florida where divers compete to catch the most lionfish.
• People can repurpose lionfish in all sorts of interesting ways. For example, @lionfish_huntress_florida dives, kills, and filets lionfish and makes jewelry out of their spines and skin.
• They are also tasty to eat!

That’s it for the October species! Follow my Instagram @studentsagainstinvasivespecies for more information, updates, and weekly species.
Thanks for reading and stay tuned for the November species!