If I remember right, this plant is also a problem in the northwest
(including Canada) so this may be of interest.

Peggi




>Date: Mon, 2 June 1997 8:46:00 -0600 (MDT)
>From: Mitch Snow <mitch_snow at mail.fws.gov>
>To: fws-news at dataadmin.irm.r9.fws.gov
>Subject: The Clamor Continues for the Beetles
>Sender: owner-fws-news at dataadmin.irm.r9.fws.gov
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>
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>============================================================
>For Immediate Release: Contact: Jim
>Mattson (217) 224-8580
>May 30, 1997 Larry
>Dean (612) 725-3602
>EA97-13
>
> The Clamor Continues for the Beetles
>
>Just as the rush to the music stores for the Beatles Anthology collection has
>subsided, natural
>resource agencies are getting lined up for yet another release, this one also
>comes from Europe.
>These are beetles of the insect variety, however, bred by staff at Cornell
>University with funds
>from U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service distributed Federal Aid dollars. And
these
>insects hold the
>key to controlling the spread of the nuisance plant purple loosestrife
(lythrum
>salicaria L.).
>
>This is the second and possibly final year for Federal Aid funding of work at
>Cornell to breed
>these insects which feed solely on loosestrife, not impacting native
vegetation,
>in fact, starving
>themselves rather than eat anything but loosestrife. Loosestrife plants are
>hearty perennials
>originating in Europe and Asia with a beautiful purple flower. The plant
forms
>dense stands in a
>wide range of wetland and lakeshore habitats, replacing native plants,
degrading
>food, shelter and
>nesting sites for wildlife. There are no current chemical or mechanical means
>to provide
>long-term control of the spread of loosestrife, but insects from Europe, leaf-
>and flower-eating
>beetles, and root-feeding weevils are natural predators capable of minimizing
>the number of
>plants. The problem in North America is that these natural predators are not
>normally found in
>the country.
>
>Research into this form of biological control of loosestrife began at Cornell
>University in the mid
>1980's and in 1992, a nationally coordinated program led to the
introduction of
>four species of
>European insects in North America. As is common with biological control,
before
>the Service
>became involved as a partner with actual placement of insects for control of
>loosestrife a large
>amount of testing was needed to be sure these insects would not themselves
>become a nuisance
>as
>well. The insects were tested with various plants, including farm produced
>plants to make sure
>they would not attack crops as well as the loosestrife. Research indicated
that
>the insects would
>starve themselves rather than eat anything other than loosestrife and the
>project moved on to the
>breeding and placement phases.
>
>Assistant Regional Director for Federal Aid Brad Johnson, said, "Our Region
was
>part of the first
>release of these insects, with approximately $300,000 in Federal Aid going
>toward this
>successful effort. Due largely to the success of this effort, refuges such as
>Sherburne, Horicon,
>Shiawassee and the Upper Mississippi River MacGregor and Winona Districts,
have
>taken on
>propagation of these insects for future releases as needed on Service lands.
>The grant sources for
>the initial production were a combination of Federal Aid and NAWCA (North
>American
>Wetlands Conservation Act) dollars."
>
>Jim Mattson, purple loosestrife coordinator for the region, pointed out, "The
>goal of this
>biological control effort is not elimination of purple loosestrife, rather to
>keep the plants at a
>manageable level. If all of the plants are gone, the insects won't have the
>food they need to
>survive and any reintroduction of loosestrife would rekindle the problem of
the
>plants spreading
>because the insects would have died from lack of food."
>
>Mattson also noted that purple loosestrife has a 175-year head start in
>spreading and would be
>difficult to eliminate all together, however, distributing these European
>insects shows clear signs
>of success at reducing populations of healthy plants within two or three years.
>
>Field stations and state natural resource agencies are currently placing their
>orders for insects,
>which are scheduled to be packaged and delivered between June 20 and July
31. A
>minimum of
>500-1000 insects are normally released per site, and often result in visibly
>defoliated loosestrife
>plants after the first year, and a combination of large reductions in the
plant
>mass and the
>rebounding of native plant species by the second year.
>
>To date, about 25,000 insects have been released on Service lands in the Great
>Lakes-Big Rivers
>Region states of: Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Ohio
>and Wisconsin.
>This year an additional 1 million are anticipated for release throughout North
>America. Purple
>loosestrife is found in 49 states and Canada. But thanks to continued efforts
>of staff at Cornell
>University, the Service and state resource agencies are waging a successful
>campaign to restore
>the natural balance in North American wetland plant communities, benefitting
>wildlife and the
>critical habitat which is their home.
>
> -FWS-
>
>
>
>
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>.-
>
>
Ben & Peggi Rodgers
Aptos, CA (near Santa Cruz 122 W, 37 N)
USA
woodduck at cruzio.com


"A bird does not sing because it has an answer,
It sings because it has a song"