Our ACE team of naturalists were out releasing Purple Loosestrife bio-control "Chella" beetles at Wild Rice Lake on July 21, 2011. Bio-control is using one living organism to control another - most often a pest species. The pest in this case is the non-native, invasive plant species Purple Loosestrife (Lythrum salicaria). The organism used to control loosestrife in this case is an aphid (Galerucella spp), affectionately referred to as "Chella" beetles as it is much easier to say than the full Genus name!
Anne Kretschmann and Zach Wilson (pictured) were hard at work in the midst of the heat to get these beetles out on site so they could get to work (the beetles, not the naturalists... they are always working hard!)
These highly effective beetles only eat loosestrife, weakening the plant and suppressing flowering; essential to controlling the spread of loosestrife which threaten our native plant species.
To read more about Purple Loosestrife, an other aquatic invasive species, you can check out the link to our webpage: http://www.discoverycenter.net/aquaticinvasivespecies3.html.
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