Over the past decade, beetles have taken a major bite out of purple loosestrife, one of the world’s most aggressive weeds.
Featured on "the most noxious weeds" list in 33 states, purple loosestrife (
Lythrum salicaria) is especially a problem in the Midwest where it clogs
wetlands and waterways. In the early 1990s, researchers in Minnesota were among the first to try a biological-based approach for beating back the weed.
They released two types of loosestrife beetles (
Galerucella calmariensis and
Galerucella pusilla) that love to munch on purple loosestrife foliage.
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