Announcing:

Beetle Farmer Workshops for Purple Loosestrife Biological Control 
revised March 8, 2008

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!  

The workshops are free and open to the public, but registration is required.  To sign up for a workshop, please contact Donna Ellis at the University of Connecticut: phone (860) 486-6448; email donna.ellis@uconn.edu  (Beetle Farmer website:  www.hort.uconn.edu/ipm/ipmbio.htm) 

Refreshments will be served. 

Directions to the University of Connecticut, Storrs, CT (Tuesday March 18^th 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/  (enter Young in the search block)

REVISED March 8, 2008 - Directions to the Sherman School, Sherman, CT (Wednesday March 26^th workshop):  From Danbury/New Fairfield:  Take Route 37 or Route 39 thru town; as Route 39 turns north, turn right into the school parking lot.  From New Milford:  Take Route 7 north, left on Route 37 four miles to intersection with Route 39, left into school parking lot.  From Kent: Take Route 7 south, right on Route 55 in Gaylordsville for two miles, left on Route 39 four miles, cross intersection into school parking lot.

g.

Directions to the Hartford County Extension Center, West Hartford, CT (Monday April 7^th 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. 

Click here for a UConn W. Hartford campus map:  http://www.hartford.uconn.edu/campus_map.html

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

The information in this material is for educational purposes.