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General Environmental Science Science Fair Project

Beetle Biocontrol for Purple Loosestrife

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Beetle Biocontrol for Purple Loosestrife | Science Fair Projects | STEM Projects
Can beetles destroy an invasive plant without harming nearby crops? Purple loosestrife is a foreign plant that crowds out native species in North America. Two beetle species in the genus Galerucella are its natural enemies. You set up petri dishes divided into six sections. Each section holds leaf discs from a different plant. Purple loosestrife serves as the control. You release beetles into the dish and observe their feeding over 12 and 24 hours. Then you repeat the test with beetle larvae. Both adults and larvae fed only on purple loosestrife. They ignored all crop plants in the dish. This host-specific feeding pattern makes these beetles a promising tool for biological control.

Hypothesis

The hypothesis is that the two types of beetles can help us get rid of the Purple Loosestrife without harming our crops.

Method & Materials

You will mark the top of the petri dish into six even quadrants, place the filter paper in the petri dish and wet it, and hole punch six of each plants being tested. You will also release five beetles and five larvas into each dish.
You will need petri dishes, filter paper, plants, and beetles and larvas.

Results

The results showed that the two types of beetles are host specific to the Purple Loosestrife and will not feed on agricultural crops. This means that they can help us get rid of the Purple Loosestrife without harming our crops.

Why do this project?

This science project is interesting because it is testing a way to get rid of a foreign plant without hurting our crops.

Also Consider

Experiment variations to consider include testing different types of beetles and different types of plants.

Full project details

Additional information and source material for this project are available below.
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