I have become aware of the fact that Gypsy Moth treatments are to begin in Montgomery County as early as May 1st this year. Gypsy moths, not to be mistaken for the Eastern Tent Caterpillar, are part of the Maryland Department of Agriculture’s pest “suppression program” - a unique collaborative between state, local, and landowner jurisdiction to control potential widespread defoliation in our region.
To view the spray schedule in your area click here.
Although the Eastern Tent Caterpillar is commonly mistaken for the Gypsy Moth Caterpillar, as both are equally prolific in Maryland, the latter is vastly more destructive to our native trees. Per the Maryland Department of Agriculture, in some parts of the country, “large outbreaks have affected hundreds of thousands of acres statewide.”
The effects of defoliation of trees in healthy hardwoods can sometimes be reversed, but in many cases, the trees are weakened and fall prey to other forest pests or even disease.
Many enviromental factors play an important role in controlling Gypsy Moth populations and certainly common predators such as wasps and several bird species also contribute as natural enemies. It is important to understand that since the early 1970’s, in Maryland alone, our State Department of Agriculture has conducted many worthwhile efforts to control Gypsy Moth propagation.
The State Dept., USDA Forest Service, local jurisdiction, and local homeowners have partnered together to form the Gypsy Moth Cooperative Suppression Program. To view more on how you you can help, or to learn more about local suppression programs in your area, please visit the Maryland Department of Agriculture.
TAGS: Gypsy Moth, Maryland Department of Agriculture, Pest Management, Eastern Tent Caterpillar, IPM, integrated pest management, Montgomery County Maryland, Silver Spring MD
1 response so far ↓
1 EDRN // Aug 7, 2010 at 9:50 pm
What about pouring boiling water on the egg masses of the gypsy moth? My mother used to do this w/ earwigs… lay out wet burlap in the evenings, then take out boiling water in the AM’s and pour it all over the burlap sacks on the ground. Sure kept that bug population down around our place. Is it possible to pour the boiling water over a limb whereon there are egg masses underneath the limb? Would it hurt the tree? It would be innocuous otherwise and beneficial to the soil under the tree.
… and about the tent caterpillar, whether eastern or otherwise, Dad had a fairly good way of decimating the populations around the farm, too. He’d just cut out the branches infested w/ those ugly little critters, throw them on the dirt road to our house, pour a bit of gasoline on them and light them on fire. They never bothered us again, obviously… smile. They also never grew beyond that point in their cycle… smile again.
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