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Controlling Invasive Plants

Loosestrife-eating beetle
Galerucella, the beetle that eats purple loosestrife,
is released at the Conservancy's Silverweed Seep
in Plainfield. Krista Helmboldt photo (C) TNC. 

The Conservancy is trying a new way to combat purple loosestrife, an aggressively invasive plant that thrives in wetlands. The New Hampshire Department of Agriculture offered the Conservancy (and several other groups or agencies) some small leaf-feeding beetles from the Galerucella genus. The beetles have been effective in other parts of the country in combating purple loosestrife.

 


Preserve Steward Krista Helmboldt recently released the beetles near purple loosestrife at Silverweed Seep, a 14-acre Conservancy preserve on the banks of the Connecticut River in Plainfield that harbors several rare plants.

The beetles strip the photosynthetic tissue from the purple loosestrife leaf, which either kills the plant, or reduces its vigor to a point where it's no longer spreading. And importantly, the remaining loosestrife plants serve as a food source for the beetle until a balance is achieved between beetle and plant.

Helmboldt will monitor the Silverweed Seep site to see how effective the beetles are.