Announcing:
Beetle Farmer Workshops for Purple Loosestrife Biological Control
We invite you to attend a farmer-friendly workshop to learn about raising Galerucella
beetles for biological control of the invasive plant purple loosestrife (Lythrum salicaria) in your local wetlands.
Raising beetles to control purple loosestrife is an exciting opportunity for community involvement that will be conducted
by YOU - students and teachers, youth groups, families, municipalities, and conservation groups. If you know of a site
invaded by purple loosestrife where biological control is desired, or if you would like to become a Beetle Farmer and rear
Galerucella beetles for release in a wetland, please attend one of the Beetle Farmer Workshops:
·
Tuesday, March 18, 2008,
6:30 - 8:30 p.m., University of Connecticut, W.B. Young Building, room 207, 1376 Storrs Road, Storrs, CT 06269
·
Wednesday, March 26, 2008, 7:00 - 9:00 p.m., Sherman School cafeteria, 2 Route 37 E,
Sherman CT 06784
· Monday, April 7, 2008, 7:00 - 9:00 p.m., Hartford County Extension Center (University
of Connecticut Greater Hartford Campus), Library Building, room 404, 1800 Asylum Avenue, West Hartford, CT 06117
Step-by-step instructions to rear and release the beneficial beetles will be provided.
No experience is necessary to become a Beetle Farmer!
Refreshments will be served.
Directions to the University of Connecticut, Storrs, CT (Tuesday March 18th
workshop):
From Route 84: Take Exit 68 and travel south
on Route 195. As you drive through campus you will pass a church on the right with a white steeple. Continue straight on Route
195 and take the next left at the light onto Horse Barn Hill/Gurleyville Road. Follow Instructions below.
From Route 6 and points south: Take Route 195
traveling north. Continue past E.O. Smith High School, the downtown Storrs shops, and Mirror Lake. Turn right at the
light past Mirror Lake onto Horse Barn Hill/Gurleyville Road. Follow Instructions below.
Instructions: Take the first left into the parking lot and enter the W.B. Young building through the center rear doors. Go up
1½ flights of stairs to the second floor and turn left down the hall to room 207 on your left.
Click here for a UConn Storrs campus
map: http://admissions.uconn.edu/virtualtour/search/
Directions to the Sherman School, Sherman,
CT (Wednesday March 26th workshop): Sherman School is in the center of town at the “T” intersection of Routes
37 and 39. Enter the school from the lower level of the parking lot and follow signs to the cafeteria, which is on the
east side of the building.
Directions to the Hartford County Extension Center, West Hartford, CT
(Monday April 7th workshop):
Take I-84 east or west to Exit 43, Park Road. Turn right onto Park Road and immediately
left onto Trout Brook Drive. Beyond the intersection of Trout Brook Drive and Asylum Avenue, on the right, are visitor's
parking lots. The Library Building faces Asylum Avenue, and there may also be parking behind the building.
Background Information
Invasive non-native plants have
become a serious concern because they decrease the abundance of native species and reduce biological diversity. Biological
control - the use of natural enemies to reduce a plant's population below an economic or biological threshold, is a sustainable,
low-input method to control purple loosestrife (Lythrum salicaria). Galerucella leaf-feeding beetles
have been approved by state and federal governments for biological control of purple loosestrife. The beetles feed primarily
on purple loosestrife leaves, stems, and shoot tips but do not prefer other kinds of plants. Feeding injury by the beetles
helps to reduce purple loosestrife populations that invade wetlands throughout the United States.
Purple loosestrife statewide biological control activities were initiated in Connecticut in 1996. The Beetle
Farmer Program began in 2004 as a collaborative effort between the University of Connecticut and the Quinnipiac River Watershed
Association. Program activities now focus on outreach education. More than
650 volunteer Beetle Farmers, including teachers and students, Scouts and Scout leaders, families, and other citizens learned
about the biological control program for this invasive plant by attending Beetle Farmer workshops, and the momentum for this
program continues to build each year.
More than 1.4 million Galerucella beetles have been reared and released
into 100 Connecticut wetlands where purple loosestrife control is needed.
For updates on the program or to participate as a Beetle Farmer, sign up for the Beetle
Farmer electronic list serve (BEETLE-L) by sending an email to donna.ellis@uconn.edu The Beetle Farmer list serve, with more than 350 subscribers, is the primary means of communication for the Beetle
Farmer Program, biological control updates, and general invasive plant information. Information is also posted on the
Beetle Farmer website [University of Connecticut Integrated Pest Management (IPM)] at www.hort.uconn.edu/ipm/ipmbio.htm
(Apologies for cross-postings)
Donna Ellis
Extension Educator and Co-Chair,
Connecticut Invasive Plant Working Group (CIPWG)
University of Connecticut
Department of Plant Science
1390 Storrs Road, Unit 4163
Storrs, CT 06269-4163
Phone (860) 486-6448
FAX (860) 486-0534
TRAIL WALK SCHEDULED!
The Watertown Land Trust has also scheduled a trail walk at Upper Nonnewaug
Preserve for Saturday, June 7 at 9am jointly with the Bethlehem Land Trust. The walk will begin at the Swendsen Farm,
owned by the town of Bethlehem. Parking lot is on route 132 just across the road after passing Sky Valley Road.
After a 2 mile walk at Swendsen, we'll carpool over to Osuch and will follow the trail along the river out to Hickory Lane
and then back to Skilton Road. This is part of Connecticut Trails Day, sponsored by the CT Forest and Park Association
every year.
