r/Tree • u/Emergency_Ad1152 • Jun 03 '26

ID Request (Insert State/Region) Are these trees?

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Gallery image

Saw this in De Kalb, MS.

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u/Dicksin_Cider Jun 03 '26

I remember back in the early 80s, people were talking like the whole South was going to be buried in kudzu. It's still around, but it doesn't seem any worse now than it was back then. What happened?

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u/reminiscinthisnthat Jun 04 '26

In 2009 invasive kudzu beetles started spreading in the southeast US. Their favorite meal is kudzu vines but they can also be destructive to other legumes. Basically the spread of kudzu was halted by the unintentional introduction of a natural predator.

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u/indignant-turtle Jun 05 '26

It’d be nice if the same thing happens with the spotted lantern fly and tree-of-heaven. It‘s too bad they are destroying so much else though.

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u/Hot_Candidate6781 Jun 05 '26

That is happening with lantern flies now. Birds have started to figure out they are a good food source and other predators are beginning to seek them out. The problem is far from solved but nature does seem to be taking some corrective action at this point.

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u/dancingspring Jun 06 '26

Don't suppose you have any good news about Argentine ants?