26 MONTANA EXPERIMENT STATION BULLETIN 484 



acres; Ravalli County, 1,615 acres; Lake County, 10,150 acres, and 

 Sanders County, 141,600 acres with a total of 153,986 acres. As a 

 result of the survey the Western Montana Weed Control Com- 

 mittee requested that an organized goatweed beetle introduction 

 program be carried out as soon as possible. This introduction was 

 organized by the Office of the State Entomologist and carried out 

 with the cooperation of the Montana Agricultural Extension 

 Service, the Agricultural Experiment Station at Montana State 

 College, the United States Bureau of Entomology and Plant Quar- 

 antine, the Western Montana Weed Control Committee, the United 

 States Forest Service, the United States Fish and Wildlife Service, 

 and others. It was decided to introduce the species Chrysolina 

 gemellata inasmuch as various investigations indicated that this 

 species would be more apt to become established under Montana 

 conditions. Introductions were planned so as to cover as many of 

 the different ecological habitats in which goatweed occurred in 

 Montana as was possible. The program was organized in such a 

 manner as to provide liberation as soon as possible after collec- 

 tion. The beetles were collected in California by two individuals 

 hired for that purpose. They were then mailed air express to Mis- 

 soula, Montana, so as to arrive in the early morning the second 

 day following collection. At Missoula, Montana, the beetles were 

 fed goatweed and immediately transported by aircraft to various 

 points where cooperators would receive the beetles and accom- 

 plish their release by early afternoon of the same day. A total of 56 

 colonies of Chrysolina gemellata were introduced with the follow- 

 ing disposition : 



51 colonies in Sanders County 2 colonies in Flathead Count}' 

 2 colonies in Lake County 1 colony in Gallatin County 



The total cost for the operation was $355.86, or approximately 

 $6.35 per colony. 



SURVEY AND REDISTRIBUTION IN 1952 



Surveys of beetle release sites were started on May 20, 1952. 

 In the Charlos Heights area of Ravalli County only three adult 

 beetles could be found in the 1948 Chrysolina hyperici release 

 area, and no evidence of beetles could be found in the 1949 

 Chrysolina gemellata release area. In Sanders County on May 26, 

 the 1949 Chrysolina hyperici release area on the O. J. Murray 

 Ranch showed a few adults and numerous larvae. The other 1949 

 Chrysolina hyperici release area just north of Thompson Falls 

 showed evidence of considerable feeding, and a few adults but no 

 larvae were found. Occasional adults and no larvae were found 

 on several of the 1951 Chrysolina gemellata release areas observed 

 in Sanders County. The Charlos Heights release area in Ravalli 



