As it turns out, the biologist only had to go as far as the Santa Clara River in his hometown of Santa Paula. It is there that Tom Dudley thinks he's found something to help combat the weed that has taken over countless miles of rivers in Ventura County and cost millions of dollars to eradicate across the West.

Dudley and other biologists at the UC Santa Barbara Marine Science Institute found a tiny, non-native wasp that lays eggs in the stems of arundo, which leads to weakened plants. Weak plants are susceptible to other pathogens that could kill the plant and stop its spread.

Read more at the Ventura County Star...