9 of the Worst Invasive Species in the U.S.

Humans are no strangers to change the world around them , often to the detriment of plant and beast around them .

This can happen when we physically spay the landscape bymowing down foreststo make room for building and parking slews . ( Orcreating fabric , for that topic . ) But it can also happen when we purposefully — or unintentionally — acquaint plant or animal species into a new area of the world , where they can upend the fragile balance of the ecosystem they invade .

Invasive coinage can wipe out aboriginal ones , put down crops , and generally make a mess of things . The U.S. alone seesmore than $ 120 billion in damagedone by non - native intruder every year . Here are some of the most infamous trespassing species that have made the U.S. their home or clear a toehold where they do n’t belong to thanks to masses .

Spotted lantern flies seen in Pennsylvania.