Bugs from N.J. helping control invasive plant in N.H.

MEREDITH, N.H. --Three hundred New Jersey natives have arrived in New Hampshire. They don't take up much room, but they're destructive.

The transplants are beetles, brought in like hired guns to eat a species of pesky plants that have been causing problems in a Meredith pond and in water bodies throughout the region.

Janan Hayes, who lives on Lake Waukewan, ordered the bugs from the New Jersey Department of Agriculture after consulting with state and local environmental officials. On Friday, she and Doug Cygan, invasive species coordinator for New Hampshire's agriculture, used a leaf to scoop the beetles out of a one-pint container into Monkey Pond.

Their target is purple loosestrife, an invasive species that arrived from Europe in the 1800s and has spread to nearly every state.

Cygan said the plant creates a competitive environment for plant species. One plant creates between 2.5 million and 4.5 million seeds that easily can be carried especially if the plant is next to water.

The 300 beetles -- galerucella pusilla and galerucella calmarienis -- are a variety of leaf-eating insects that are host-specific, meaning they only will eat purple loosestrife. The beetles make "shotgun holes" in the leaves, which interfere with the plant's ability to photosynthesize, making the plant unable to produce flowers.

"No flowers, no seeds," Cygan said.

Hayes and her husband have set up a self-funded environmental fund called the Hayes Environmental Fund, to help protect the area around the Snake River. Money from the fund was used to buy the beetles.

"I know the municipalities are stretched to the limit," Hayes said.

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Information from: Citizen, http://www.citizen.com