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A Community of Scholars:
Loosestrife Beetle Research
By Debbie Myers
ill beetles native to Europe
be able to help control purple
loosestrife in Michigan?
capabilities of the plant,” Nick explained.
The flowers produce the seeds that make it
possible for loosestrife to proliferate.
That’s what Nick Krueger of Tecumseh, a
senior biology major at Siena Heights, is
trying to determine. Nick is working with
Michigan State University and the Michigan
Sea Grant College Program to study how
long it takes for a particular beetle species,
Galerucella calmariensis, to affect loosestrife plants.
“The idea