Taking On The ‘Mile-A-Minute’ Vine—

Newtown Selected To Receive Invasive-Fighting Beetles

By Kendra Bobowick

“This is really neat stuff,” said Land Use Deputy Director Rob Sibley.

One of several upcoming state-funded projects includes a new, federally approved approach to ridding the landscape of an invasive mile-a-minute vine.

The mile-a-minute vine (MAM) (Polygonum Perfoliatum) was first spotted in Newtown during the summer of 2007. Sightings had volunteers and officials tearing it out yard by yard.

According to the Department of Environmental Protection, mile-a-minute vine overgrows native species, interferes with forest regeneration, disrupts normal ecosystem functioning, and can smother and shade out small native seedlings. Under ideal conditions, a single plant can grow up to six inches in a day.

Residents and property owners should be sure the vine has been correctly identified before attempting removal. Many other species, including native plants, may be confused with mile-a-minute vine. The trailing, barbed vine has flat, pale green triangular leaves and produces small, blue berries along a thin stem (See photo).

Newtown will use weevils — beetles that lay eggs on the vine. Adult beetles and larvae both feed on the plant. The town, along with North Haven and Greenwich, is preparing to fight the vine’s proliferation with biomitigation, essentially using natural means to prevent the plant’s growth.

“This is new and burgeoning,” Mr Sibley said. “It’s exciting. We’re one of the first to use this, it has worked well elsewhere.” Delaware and New Jersey have also employed the weevil. The three Connecticut towns will be test sites where the weevils are released. Newtown’s weevils, which are specific to the vine and will not harm other vegetation, should arrive from China in early July.

The state Department of Environmental Protection and University of Connecticut have combined efforts to fight the mile-a-minute vine.

“It’s a limited start, but we’re happy about it,” said Donna Ellis, the Senior Extension Educator for the UConn Department of Plant Science. Aiming to treat the mile-a-minute vine with early detection measures, she said, “We’re very optimistic.”

Adult weevils chew holes in leaves and lay eggs, explained Ms Ellis. Immature weevils eat into the plant stems. The process will take time for the weevils to become established. Because the beetles can go through “a couple” life cycles in a season, Ms Ellis explained, “The idea? They’ll build up a population, they’ll slowly build up numbers. They’re good at finding pockets of mile-a-minute.”

She advises homeowners to also watch for the vine, and pull it up by the roots.

According to a recent DEP release, a new agreement between the DEP and UConn places mile-a-minute vine as a top priority species. The state department and university are seeking the public’s assistance in locating populations of the vine throughout the state. Report any sightings of this highly invasive plant.

The website hort.uconn.edu/mam has been set up to serve as a public, central source of mile-a-minute vine information. The public can also contact Logan Senack (logan.senack@uconn.edu) or Donna Ellis (860-486-6448 or donna.ellis@uconn.edu) for additional information.

The upcoming weevil program will receive funding from the US Forest Service and US Department of Agriculture Animal Plant Health Inspection Service.

 

Will It Work?

According to March 2009 research published by the University of Delaware College of Agriculture, available at http://ag.udel.edu/index.htm, most releases have been conducted in New Jersey, where the weevil is being mass-reared. Between 2004 and 2007, more than 64,000 weevils were released in 37 different mile-a-minute infested sites in New Jersey. The insects have established populations nearly everywhere that they have been released. In some sites where large numbers were released, the weevils have reduced mile-a-minute to the point where it is no longer the dominant plant in the ecosystem. Releases of weevils have also occurred in Delaware, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, and Maryland.

Weed scientist Todd Mervosh with the Connecticut Experiment Station explained that this state will be using the weevil for the first time. Rather than results, he, Ms Ellis, and Entomologist Carole Cheah, among others, have expectations. Based on research from other states, for one, Mr Mervosh said, “Results seem promising.” He recalls reading about another state’s discovery that the weevil populations had expanded beyond their test areas to other mile-a-minute sites. “It’s encouraging; they’ve seen fairly rapid spread.”