|
This is the
plant that is the cause of the problem. Purple loosestrife
is orignally from Europe. Once it was brought here, it
began to spread to our wetlands and chocked out all of
the native plants that the animals needed to survive.
It had no animals that fed on it and it decimated our
wetlands. Click here for more information on the problem. |
| This is an
aparatus that was designed by the Stream Teams and Scott
Labadie for our project. Simple to make, we used small
swaths of the mesh in the tube to prevent the bugs from
being sucked back into the tube. |
|
|
This is the
cage where you will release the beetles. It should be
completely wrapped in the mesh but don't worry. The beetles
won't actively search for an opening to come out of it. |
| Here is a
starter purple loosestrife plant that we dug out of a
wetland. Just place this in a small wading pool of standing
water 3 - 5 inches deep and they will grow very well. |
|
|
For our first
year the Department of U.S. Fish and Wildlife were nice
enough to give us starter beetles. There were 200 in each
cup. We stored them in a refrigerator until the next day
when we were ready for them. Now that we know what to
look for, we harvest the beetles from areas where we released
them in years past. |
| Cups were
they uncapped under the mesh. At first the beetles were
cold and sluggish, but as they warmed up they became very
active. |
 |
|
Now we used
our aparatus to suck them up. Here Scott Labadie and Steven
are pictures pulling in around 20 to a tube. |
| While the
beetles were being sucked up, others were preparing the
plants. Tomato cages were wrapped with misquito netting
and placed over the plants. Sharp edges on the cages were
wrapped with tape to prevent holes from forming. |
|
|
From there
the nets were tied at the top to secure them. |
| Now they
were ready for placing the beetles on the loosestrife.
Once on the plant, the beetles began feeding for a week
or so and then began the breeding cycle. After the youngins'
hatch in a couple of weeks is when they are released. |
|
|
Scott Labadie
and Josh Warren are reminiscing with some of the youngins'
before their release into the real world. |
| Pictured
at the property next to the Grosse Ile Nature Center,
the beetles are released into the wild. |
|
