# Are Africa and Asia plagued by any North American invasives? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [April 16, 2011, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-africa-and-asia-plagued-by-any-north-american-invasives/578619 "2011-04-16T16:31:57Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![levdrakon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/49beb7/32.png) [@levdrakon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/levdrakon)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2011, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-africa-and-asia-plagued-by-any-north-american-invasives/578619/1 "2011-04-16T16:31:57Z")
There is a thread today about the stink bug infestations taking place across the US. I frequently also hear about Asian aphids, invasive eels and fish in the Great Lakes and Florida waterways, aquatic weeds, termites, etc. It seems like it’s always an African-something or an Asian-something that bedevils North America. Conversely, are there any North American critters or weeds that are a particular problem for Africa and Asia? I know there are some European pests that have gotten around. Feral pigeons for example, if you consider them a pest. I’m not sure if pigeons have wrecked environmental havoc anywhere in particular. Rats? Mice? Are those European in origin? Any North American natives specifically, a problem for other continents/regions? ---
**Author:** ![wellanuff](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/57b2e6/32.png) [@wellanuff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wellanuff)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2011, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-africa-and-asia-plagued-by-any-north-american-invasives/578619/2 "2011-04-16T16:57:51Z")
The case of European bunny rabbits in Australia is a well-known situation of this type. Edited to add: Sorry, you are looking for instances involving North American species. My bad. ---
**Author:** ![levdrakon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/49beb7/32.png) [@levdrakon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/levdrakon)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2011, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-africa-and-asia-plagued-by-any-north-american-invasives/578619/3 "2011-04-16T17:02:42Z")
> [@wellanuff](#): > > The case of European bunny rabbits in Australia is a well-known situation of this type. > > Edited to add: Sorry, you are looking for instances involving North American species. My bad. No problem. It can be a general “invasives” discussion too if people like, although I would like to know about NA invasives specifically. ---
**Author:** ![figure9](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/f0a364/32.png) [@figure9](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/figure9)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2011, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-africa-and-asia-plagued-by-any-north-american-invasives/578619/4 "2011-04-16T17:06:47Z")
I have heard that the prickly pear cactus is a pest in parts of Africa. ---
**Author:** ![levdrakon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/49beb7/32.png) [@levdrakon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/levdrakon)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2011, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-africa-and-asia-plagued-by-any-north-american-invasives/578619/5 "2011-04-16T17:14:38Z")
> [@figure9](#): > > I have heard that the prickly pear cactus is a pest in parts of Africa. Really? That’s a good one! I’d kill that with fire, if I couldn’t figure out how to cook it and eat it, which I think is done someplaces. Oh, we can talk about germs too. Do Africa and Asia ever worry about this season’s American Flu? ---
**Author:** ![Lumpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lumpy/32/446_2.png) [@Lumpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lumpy)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2011, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-africa-and-asia-plagued-by-any-north-american-invasives/578619/6 "2011-04-16T17:26:02Z")
I believe that the American Gray Squirrel is crowding out the native Red Squirrel in Britain. ---
**Author:** ![MikeS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/919ad9/32.png) [@MikeS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MikeS)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2011, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-africa-and-asia-plagued-by-any-north-american-invasives/578619/7 "2011-04-16T17:27:54Z")
> [@levdrakon](#): > > Oh, we can talk about germs too. Do Africa and Asia ever worry about this season’s American Flu? There’s a long-standing theory among epidemiologists (though I don’t know that it’s universally accepted) that syphilis originated in the Americas. Notably, the first well-documented outbreak in the Eastern Hemisphere was only a couple of years after 1492; however, this could just be a coincidence. ---
**Author:** ![dracoi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/90db22/32.png) [@dracoi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dracoi)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2011, 5:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-africa-and-asia-plagued-by-any-north-american-invasives/578619/8 "2011-04-16T17:28:14Z")
Mosquitofish are an invasive in many parts of the world. They originated in the south Texas/north Mexico area of North America and have been intentionally introduced throughout much of the world in an attempt to control mosquito populations. There are many reports that they are outcompeting native species. ---
**Author:** ![even\_sven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/dfb087/32.png) [@even\_sven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/even_sven)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2011, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-africa-and-asia-plagued-by-any-north-american-invasives/578619/9 "2011-04-16T17:34:42Z")
Here is some [information](http://www.invasivespeciesinfo.gov/international/africa.shtml) about Africa. There are, indeed, invasive species from North America plaguing parts of Africa. [Mexican poppy](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Argemone_mexicana), [chromolaena odorata,](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chromolaena_odorata) and [Spanish flag](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lantana_camara) count among the North American invasive species. Thee are plenty more, and A LOT from South America. ---
**Author:** ![levdrakon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/49beb7/32.png) [@levdrakon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/levdrakon)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2011, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-africa-and-asia-plagued-by-any-north-american-invasives/578619/10 "2011-04-16T17:36:44Z")
> [@Lumpy](#): > > I believe that the American Gray Squirrel is crowding out the native Red Squirrel in Britain. OMG, [you’re right!](http://uncyclopedia.wikia.com/wiki/Gray_squirrel) ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2011, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-africa-and-asia-plagued-by-any-north-american-invasives/578619/11 "2011-04-16T18:23:55Z")
The North American raccoon, originally introduced into Germany, has become a pest in parts of Europe. [Nazi Raccoons on the March in Europe.](http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,,1390574,00.html) The [water hyacinth](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Water_hyacinth), originally from South America, has become a pest in Africa, Asia, and elsewhere in the tropics. ---
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2011, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-africa-and-asia-plagued-by-any-north-american-invasives/578619/12 "2011-04-16T18:32:18Z")
The [American cockroach](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_cockroach), of course. ETA: Never mind. Despite the name, it turns out the American cockroach is actually African in origin. ---
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2011, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-africa-and-asia-plagued-by-any-north-american-invasives/578619/13 "2011-04-16T18:38:18Z")
OK here’s one: the [largemouth bass](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Large_mouth_bass) is a destructive pest in Namibia. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2011, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-africa-and-asia-plagued-by-any-north-american-invasives/578619/14 "2011-04-16T19:00:19Z")
> [@figure9](#): > > I have heard that the prickly pear cactus is a pest in parts of Africa. They’re very common here, but I don’t think they’re a pest. Farmers sometime them as hedges for their fields. ---
**Author:** ![mikews99](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ac91a4/32.png) [@mikews99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mikews99)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2011, 12:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-africa-and-asia-plagued-by-any-north-american-invasives/578619/15 "2011-04-17T00:00:26Z")
[Here’s my previous thread with the same question](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=573638). ---
**Author:** ![Blake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a9a28c/32.png) [@Blake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blake)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2011, 12:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-africa-and-asia-plagued-by-any-north-american-invasives/578619/16 "2011-04-17T00:11:37Z")
> [@levdrakon](#): > > Really? That’s a good one! I’d kill that with fire, if I couldn’t figure out how to cook it and eat it, which I think is done someplaces. I hope this was a joke. > [@](#): > > Oh, we can talk about germs too. Do Africa and Asia ever worry about this season’s American Flu? Yes, any strain of influenza is as likely to originate in the Americas as anywhere else. The worst Flu epidemic in history is likely to have originated in North America. ---
**Author:** ![Balthisar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/balthisar/32/2825_2.png) [@Balthisar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balthisar)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2011, 1:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-africa-and-asia-plagued-by-any-north-american-invasives/578619/17 "2011-04-17T01:10:17Z")
> [@levdrakon](#): > > Really? That’s a good one! I’d kill that with fire, if I couldn’t figure out how to cook it and eat it, which I think is done someplaces. We eat prickly pears in the USA. That’s why we call them “prickly pears” rather than “tunas” (the Mexican word for the fruit). It’s quite tastey. The leaf can be quite tasty, too, if prepared to my liking (most preparations are too slimy for my taste). ---
**Author:** ![penultima\_thule](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/penultima_thule/32/3833_2.png) [@penultima\_thule](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/penultima_thule)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2011, 1:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-africa-and-asia-plagued-by-any-north-american-invasives/578619/18 "2011-04-17T01:21:58Z")
> [@figure9](#): > > I have heard that the prickly pear cactus is a pest in parts of Africa. In Australia in the 1920s 24.25mil hectares (60mil acres) was infested with Prickly Pear (Optunia inermis) until control by _cactoblastis_ which is a poster example of biological control. On the other hand, the introduction from Hawaii of the cane toad has been an unmitigated disaster. Others include red imported fire ants (Solenopsis invicta), also from USA but originally from South America, Mosquitofish (Gambusia affinis) from the Gulf of Mexico, and the invasive, spiky weed Mimosa pigra. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2011, 1:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-africa-and-asia-plagued-by-any-north-american-invasives/578619/19 "2011-04-17T01:52:26Z")
Here’s a list of [10 invasive species from the United States.](http://www.necis.net/intro-to-invasive-species/what-we-know/ten-invasive-species-that-the-united-states-exported/) Among them, the North American Bullfrog is a problem species in Japan, Korea, and elsewhere, the pinewood nematode has invaded China, Japan, Korea, and other Asian countries, and Largemouth Bass are invasive in Japan. ---
**Author:** ![HazelNutCoffee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ac91a4/32.png) [@HazelNutCoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HazelNutCoffee)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2011, 2:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-africa-and-asia-plagued-by-any-north-american-invasives/578619/20 "2011-04-18T02:25:37Z")
Yeah, I was going to post about the bullfrog. It was supposed to be a new food source. Somehow they never caught on. Apparently the bastards have been eating endemic species into near extinction.