Purple Loosestrife (Lythrum Salicarina) is an exotic invasive species that is spreading rapidly across lakes, rivers, wetlands and ditches in Wisconsin. Each plant produces millions of seeds, and stem pieces can root in moist soil, kaming the plant able to outcompete our native pants to form dense, monotypic stands with low value to wildlife.

The DNR has a growing purple loosestrife control program and needs your help! If you see purple loosestrife and want to report its location, click here for contact information. If you want to raise beetles in participation with the DNR's biological control program, please see our information below!


Purple Loosestrife Biological Control... As An Educational Project
Are you a teacher who would like to get involved in purple loosestrife control efforts and the DNR program to rear and release biological control insects? Golden Sands RC&D has a program that can provide you with technical assistance and some of the necessary equipment to get started with beetle rearing as a classroom project. Give your students a great hands-on learning experience!

Click here to view the brochure.

(For help with printing and downloading see instructions at the bottom of this page.)



See Cella Chow! A Purple Loosestrife Biological Control Manual For Educators
Teachers and troop leaders who want to get involved in purple loosestrife control efforts and the DNR program to rear and release biological control insects now have a helpful, FREE teaching tool. Published by Science Services, inconjuction with the Wisconsin Wetlands Association, topics range from host-plant specificity experiments to an invasive plant art project. Highlights of the manual include:

  • Designed for teachers, by teachers
  • Hands-on educational activites for all age groups
  • Complete, detailed instructions for rearing beetles
  • FREE! Available in hard copy or downloadable PDF file from the DNR website.


Purple Loosestrife - What It Is...What It Isn't
A field guide showing the identifiable characteristics of purple loosestrife along with some of it's look-alikes. Created by the Wisconsin Wetlands Association, with sponsors and partners including:

  • Wisconsin Costal Management Program
  • Great Lakes Indian, Fish and Wildlife Commission
  • WE Energies
  • American Transmission Company
  • National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
  • Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources
  • Great Lakes Protection Fund

Click here to view the brochure.

Printing and Viewing Instructions

To print: Click on the link to open the brochure. Choose Print under the File menu. Make sure these 3 options are set:

  1. Paper is set to legal size (note: if you do not have legal size paper, leave it set to plain)
  2. Set orientation to landscape
  3. Make sure the "Shrink oversized pages to paper size" check box is checked.

To download: right click on the desired link and choose "Save Target As..." to save to your computer.

To view this brochure online you will need Acrobat Reader 4.0 or higher

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