By Caitlin Stewart

For the Express

Hamilton County Soil and Water Conservation District staff have released 200 galerucella beetles along the Sacandaga River in the town of Lake Pleasant to control purple loosestrife, a deadly invasive wetland plant.

Invasive species threaten Hamilton County’s economy and recreational enjoyment. Explosive populations of loosestrife kill wetlands by choking out native vegetation that wildlife depend on for food, shelter and nesting.  This beautiful perennial is often planted in gardens, and soon spreads throughout neighborhoods, making its way down road corridors and into desirable aquatic ecosystems. Adult plants produce 2.5 million seeds annually that are dispersed by water movement, wind, and animals. New plants also spring up from vegetative fragments and rhizomes. Seeds are transported down the Sacandaga River and to locations along lake shoreline where new populations take root.   

“Manual management of invasive plants is time consuming and labor intensive, but through our new initiative, these beetles can really take a bite out of loosestrife populations,” declared Caitlin Stewart, the District’s Conservation Educator. These bugs are voracious herbivores that feed on the leaves and stems of purple loosestrife, but do not harm native wetland vegetation or garden ornamentals. As their food source declines, the bugs will die out. The district received a permit from the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation to deploy galerucella beetles for biocontrol.   

Since 2003, the district has manually managed purple loosestrife along Hamilton County’s roadways and wetlands by cutting the plant and bagging all vegetation to slow its spread. The Adirondack Park Invasive Plant Program assisted the district in 2007 by applying herbicide to loosestrife plants growing in the floodplains of the Sacandaga River on Route 30, greatly reducing, but not eradicating, populations. In 2010, District staff removed 960 pounds of loosestrife. Diligent landowners and volunteers have dedicated many hours to invasive plant management.  “With this year’s beetle deployment coupled with next year’s plan to expand the program by rearing adult bugs from larvae for 2012 release, populations of this persistent invasive plant will be significantly reduced,” explained Stewart.