Ecology and Management of
Invasive Plants Program

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Intro

1. Site
    Identification

2. Phragmites
    Collection

3. Gathering
    Information

4. Sampling

5. Materials
    For Field

6. Dissection

7. Material
     For Lab

8. Rearing the
     Insects

9. Common
     Insects

10. Life
     Overviews

 

 		 

In Europe many insects live in the stems of Phragmites and many insectivorous birds (birds that feed on insects) therefore chose Phragmites as an attractive place to live because food is plentiful.

 A number of these insects, all accidental introductions, have recently been found in North America and they appear to be spreading. Most of the insects seem to be spreading from ports in the East (particularly New York City) but several have made it all the way to the West Coast, or were introduced there as well.

Presently, we do not know much about the distribution (geographically), habitat requirements, or biology of these different insects within North America (we have preliminary information from several states) or whether any of these insects may control or stop the Phragmites invasion.

However, we do know that many of these insects overwinter as larvae in Phragmites stems, and may be found by dissecting plants during the fall and winter months (usually August – April).

map

This offers ideal opportunities to investigate various questions associated with the invasion of Phragmites during the school year.

Here are a few examples of questions.