 URL weevil pest warms to life in south west london james meek science correspondent tuesday october NUMBER NUMBER the guardian they re chomping in chelsea fulham and pimlico but despite their fancy taste in london addresses they are neither posh nor particularly fussy they are vine weevils and they want to eat your plants two species of vine weevil previously unable to survive britain s cold winters have been discovered in south west london and one has also been detected in surrey cardiff and edinburgh this is probably the most serious new garden pest in recent memory said max barclay the curator of beetles at the natural history museum in london who discovered the creatures in the uk the black vine weevil has long been native to britain causing enormous damage to glossy leaved plants such as laurels but the two new species otiorhynchus armadillo and otiorhynchus salicicola not previously known north of switzerland are now prevalent in south london it s very likely these weevils have been introduced to britain through imported ornamental plants from italy said dr barclay it looks like they re here to stay he found otiorhynchus armadillo on the window of a chelsea department store in NUMBER but as the shop sold imported house plants he assumed it was a migrant it has now quietly become the most common species of vine weevil in south west london the second invader is not so numerous but has established itself firmly in the same area apart from laurels vine weevils attack bay viburnum ornamental ivy and grape vines an early sign of trouble is that notches appear in leaves the soil dwelling larvae bite the roots off below the surface one possible explanation for the invaders successful colonisation of britain is global warming earlier springs and milder winters are already a fact yahoo groups sponsor sell a home with ease URL to unsubscribe from this group send an email to forteana unsubscribe URL your use of yahoo groups is subject to URL 