Beer -

I did check Snopes, but didn't find anything there.

The Texas A&M sites that I linked do have a good bit of info on this pest, and did support the claim that they have been spread via mulch, hence the passing on of the info.

The second site, at the Texas Entomology Dept shows the current status of spread - largely via shipment of wood products, through significant parts of Texas; and an Oklahoma Forestry bulletin reported concern, but no known presence yet (as of a year ago). The OK bulletin contained a warning about "using caution" with wood products coming from infested areas, but a general search didn't find any references to a current "dire warning."

I'm a little surprised that my "pre-search" didn't find the Louisianna report, but what turns up in a search often depends more on how many people have looked at a piece than on how useful it is.

The Snopes article gives some reassurance that there's no special hazard from the hurricane area, so it's probably safe to back off the alert to the level of existing advisories specific to one's own area and climate. At least this little flap made me aware that there is some concern in areas close to my own, from another pest I hadn't heard of.

And the range of the Armadillo has spread nearly 200 miles northward in the past ten years or so, across the full N/S extent of my state -- global warming and all that...

John