Eradication as a control measure (use of pesticides, for example, to completely wipe out the invasive population) will only work if the introduced species is found early enough. For example, the weevil Metamasius monilis, which attacks orchids, immigrated to Florida in 1972. After it was found in a greenhouse, Division of Plant Industry (DPI) personnel were able to eradicate it because it had not spread very far. It has not been seen in Florida since then.

However, for most insects that invade natural areas, once they are discovered it is too late to eradicate them. As soon as the Mexican bromeliad weevil was detected in a Fort Lauderdale nursery, pesticides were applied to the nursery and DPI personnel surveyed surrounding parks and private lands. The weevil was found in several locations in northern Broward and southern Palm Beach Counties, so by the time it was detected it had spread too far to use chemical controls.

Although in bromeliad nurseries and private collections in Florida, pesticides are applied to prevent weevil damage (see About Chemical Control of Metamasius callizona), there are additional reasons why chemical control is unacceptable in natural areas, where the pest's greatest effects are being seen. In their natural habitat, the bromeliad host plants are epiphytes, attaching themselves to tree trunks and branches, often high in the tree canopy. The inaccessibility of the plants makes chemical control both impractical and prohibitively costly. More importantly, the use of chemical controls is neither permitted nor desirable in parks and other protected areas because of the negative effects it would have on non-target organisms in the surrounding environment.

The weevil immigrated to Florida from its Mexican/Central American homeland, where it does not cause such intense destruction to its bromeliad host populations and is therefore not considered a pest. In such cases, the insect generally has natural enemies in its native land that keep its populations low. When an insect immigrates and leaves behind its natural enemies, the population can increase dramatically if environmental conditions are appropriate and it encounters a good food supply. It then becomes a pest. This is the situation we have with the Mexican bromeliad weevil.

These factors all make classical biological control the most appropriate course of action to suppress populations of this pest. See the section on biological control of the Mexican bromeliad weevil for details on how classical biological works and the progress of research on biological control of the weevil. In conjunction with the weevil management research, seeds of bromeliads at risk from the weevil have been collected and are being reared in greenhouses. Hopefully, the weevil problem will be resolved and these plants can be returned to the where they were collected.