Meewasin has been collecting and releasing Leafy Spurge Flea Beetles on their sites for many years as part of the Resource Conservation’s management effort. This is part of an integrated approach of management, which also includes prescribed fire, grazing by sheep, hand-pulling, mowing, and spot spraying of herbicide if needed.
Leafy Spurge is a perennial invasive plant that takes over grasslands and pasture lands, spreading through seeds and roots. The Leafy Spurge Beetles are a means of biological control. The adult beetles feed on the leaves of the plants, but it is their larva which does the most control as they mine out the roots of the Leafy Spurge.
