July 14, 2008 Beetles used to fight invasive plant Play video

(NECN: Amy Sinclair, Wells, Maine) - You have probably seen the pretty, purple plant growing in ditches alongside the highways and byways of New England, but looks can be deceiving. Purple loosestrife is an invasive menace -- at least it used to be, until it met its match.

Biologists are farming beetles and releasing them to beat back an invasive plant called purple loosestrife.

This summer, invasive plant technician, David Tibbetts, of the Rachel Carson National Wildlife Refuge in Wells, Maine led the Galerucella beetle rearing and purple loosestrife control project.

Beetles were distributed to 17 conservation partners around refuge lands, including land trusts, conservation commissions, Department of Transportation, and the Maine Turnpike Authority. Refuge staff worked with the York Soil and Water Conservation District to reach additional partners outside of the refuge service area, including a golf course in Portland, Maine.

Galerucella beetles are host specific, and are only able to complete their entire lifecycle on purple loosestrife plants. These beetles have been used to successfully control purple loosestrife since the USDA approved their use as a biological control agent in 1992.

Over 200 purple loosestrife plants were propagated in plastic containers and inoculated with Galerucella beetles.

All Galerucella beetles were collected locally using aspirators, thus mitigating the cost of buying the beetles from a biological

supply source. These locally collected beetles are also already adapted to Maine's environmental conditions and reproduce quite readily in propagation pots. By rearing purple loosestrife in a contained environment with Galerucella beetles, refuge workers were able to produce many more beetles, due to the absence of beetle eating insects and birds.