CALLING ALL BEETLE FARMERS – BEETLEMANIA IS HERE!

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 in Connecticut. 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. To sign up for a workshop, please RSVP to Donna Ellis at the University of Connecticut: phone (860) 486-6448; email donna.ellis@uconn.edu Refreshments will be served.

BEETLE FARMER WORKSHOPS for 2006:

MONDAY, MARCH 27, 6:30 - 8:30 p.m. FARMINGTON
The Farmington Library, Board Room #2 (second floor), 6 Monteith Drive, Farmington, CT 06034; Telephone for directions (860) 673-6791. The Farmington Library is located off Rt. 4 in Farmington, in a complex containing the Library, Town Hall and Farmington High School. From I-84: Take Exit 39, Rt. 4 West to Farmington. Follow Rt. 4 to the traffic light at the intersection of Rt. 4 and Monteith Drive, approximately 4.5 miles. Turn right onto Monteith Drive. Turn left into the library parking lot.

THURSDAY, MARCH 30, 7:00 - 9:00 p.m. NEW HAVEN
Co-Sponsored by the Quinnipiac River Watershed Association and the University of Connecticut.
The Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station, Jones Auditorium, 123 Huntington Street, New Haven, CT 06504; Telephone for directions (203) 974-8500.

From I-95 North or South: Exit onto I-91 north in New Haven. Take Exit 6 (left exit) to Willow Street. Follow Instructions below.

From I-91 South: Take Exit 6 in New Haven to Willow Street. Follow Instructions below.

From I-84 East: Take Route 691 to I-91 south to Exit 6 in New Haven. Follow Instructions below.

Instructions: Turn right onto Willow Street and proceed to the end. Turn right onto Whitney Avenue. Take the third left off Whitney Avenue (Huntington Street) and proceed up the hill. The Experiment Station is on the right just past the first cross street.

FRIDAY, MARCH 31, 6:00 - 8:00 p.m. NEW PRESTON
Co-Sponsored by the Washington Environmental Council, the White Memorial Foundation, the Northwest Conservation District, and the University of Connecticut.
Washington Montessori School, 240 Litchfield Turnpike (Route 202), New Preston, CT 06777. For more detailed directions call (860) 868-0551.

MONDAY, APRIL 10, 7:00 - 9:00 p.m. STORRS
The University of Connecticut, W.B. Young Building, Room 207, 1376 Storrs Road, Storrs, CT 06269; Telephone for directions (860) 486-6448.

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 1? flights of stairs to the second floor and turn left down the hall to room 207 on your left.

Visit the Beetle Farmer website (University of Connecticut Integrated Pest Management) at www.hort.uconn.edu/ipm/ipmbio.htm

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. 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. Approximately 838,000 Galerucella beetles have been reared and released into 76 wetlands where purple loosestrife control was needed since the biological control program began in Connecticut in 1996, and the momentum for this program continues to build.

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 200 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

For more information, please contact Donna Ellis at the University of Connecticut (email donna.ellis@uconn.edu; phone 860-486-6448) .