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❤️ #HappyValentinesDay to everyone... except invasive sea lamprey!  

Sea lamprey feed on the blood 🩸 of native fish in the Great Lakes and have harmed Great Lakes fisheries as a result. But, scientists might've found a “love potion” to trap them... ❤️🧪 

Scientists will drip small amounts of the 3kPZS pheromone to attract sea lamprey into traps so that they can control the population 😲 3kPZS is naturally released by males to guide females for mating. It is registered by @EPA as the 1st pheromone considered to be a biopesticide. Like the invasive sea lamprey, native lamprey may also use 3kPZS for mating, a @USGS study found. Native and sea lamprey don't often live in the same environment though, so scientists have found that the overlap that would kill native lamprey is minimal. 

Learn more about invasive sea lampreys and what scientists are doing to control their population. Click the link in our profile and choose the associated image to visit the link to this USGS news article: https://www.usgs.gov/news/national-news-release/sea-lamprey-mating-pheromone-registered-us-environmental-protection