Beetle Farmer Summary 2005
Donna R. Ellis, Extension Educator
University of Connecticut Department of Plant Science
Since 2004, purple loosestrife (Lythrum salicaria) statewide biological control activities have been redirected to the development of an enhanced outreach educational program. During this time, more than 350 volunteer Beetle Farmers, including teachers and their students, Scouts and Scout leaders, citizens, and families learned about the biological control program for this invasive plant and received training via Beetle Farmer workshops and other programs. In just two years the Beetle Farmers have reared and released 538,000 Galerucella beetles (purple loosestrife biological control agents) into 36 new wetlands where purple loosestrife control was needed. This total includes the beetles that are reared each year at the University of Connecticut Plant Science Research and Education Facility.
The Beetle Farmer program was truly a cooperative effort this year. Approximately 238,000 Galerucella beetles were reared and released into 16 new sites during 2005. Our state totals now stand at 838,000 biological control agents released into 76 Connecticut wetlands since the purple loosestrife biological control program began in 1996.
The 150 participating Beetle Farmers in 2005 were Connecticut citizens and/or were affiliated with a number of organizations, including the Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection, Covenant Village of Cromwell, East Rock Park, Environmental Planning Services, Northern Connecticut Land Trust, Northwest Park, Quinnipiac River Watershed Association, Simsbury Land Trust, Tootin Hills School Cub Scouts, and White Memorial Conservation Center.
We also appreciated the opportunity to work with many educational institutions that participated during 2005, including Connecticut Junior Republic, East Granby Middle School, Harris AgriScience Center, Latimer Lane School, Loomis Chaffee School, Manchester Community College, North Branford High School, Thomas Edison Middle School, Tolland Middle School, and the University of Connecticut.
Galerucella beetles were released in the towns of Bloomfield, Cromwell, Danbury, East Granby, Litchfield, Manchester, Meriden, New Haven, Norwalk, Simsbury, Somers, Tolland, West Hartford, Windsor, and Vernon. Conservation and Inland Wetlands Commission members and other municipal staff assisted greatly in approving the new sites for 2005. The Beetle Farmer program continued to attract the attention of news media and the public, with various articles published in newspapers and magazines and presentations that occurred at public events throughout Connecticut and the region.
The new Beetle Farmer electronic list serve (BEETLE-L) has been well received. The list serve is one of the communication vehicles we use to exchange pertinent and timely information on the Beetle Farmer program, biological control updates, and general invasive plant information. The list serve, initiated in April 2005, now has more than 200 subscribers.
A Beetle Farmer poster was recently developed and is now available for downloading on the purple loosestrife biological control section of the University of Connecticut Integrated Pest Management (IPM) website (www.hort.uconn.edu/ipm/). Two distribution maps were created that show Connecticut towns and counties where purple loosestrife biological control is underway, and they are also posted on the IPM website.
I have enjoyed the opportunity to meet with so many of you this year during the winter workshops, the days that we dug plants and collected beetles, and the follow up site visits where we monitored ongoing control efforts. Your enthusiasm is certainly contagious! Although biological control is a patient process, with an average of seven years required before significant control occurs in a wetland dominated by purple loosestrife, we observed feeding damage by the Galerucella beetles at many locations in just the one or two years since they were introduced at these sites. Impacts by the biological control agents will become more evident with time as the beetles become established and increase in population.
The Beetle Farmer program will continue in 2006. We will be planning several workshops around Connecticut in March. I encourage you to help promote "Beetlemania" by sharing your enthusiasm about the program with others as we continue to further distribute the beetles throughout Connecticut. The momentum is building and we are making great progress.
Please accept my sincere thanks to all of the new and continuing Beetle Farmers and other cooperators for the excellent work that you are doing toward finding a sustainable solution for control of an invasive non-native plant.
Best Regards,
Donna Ellis
Email donna.ellis@uconn.edu
Beetle Farmer website www.hort.uconn.edu/ipm/
Phone (860) 486-6448
Fax (860) 486-0534
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