Gypsy Moth

The two insecticides most commonly used to destroy gypsy moths are Bacillus thuringiensis, or Bt, and diflubenzuron, which is known as Dimilin. Bt, which is bacteria-based, is used near water. It's a stomach poison that stops gypsy moths from feeding after they ingest it. Dimilin, a chemical insect growth regulator, is used away from water. It's a chitin inhibitor that prevents insects from molting from one stage to the next. Some national parks use an insecticide called Gypchek.

Gypsy moth spraying begins By KIMBERLY YAKOWSKI kimy@herald-mail.com They don't look intimidating but the small, furry gypsy moth caterpillar can be a farmer or homeowner's worst nightmare. The insects have voracious and indiscriminate appetites for leaves and can damage a tree in a short period, said Mark Taylor, program coordinator of the Maryland Department of Agriculture gypsy moth survey and control program. Taylor said that this year, workers are spraying 48,543 acres across the state to stop the tiny terrors.

Gypsy moths on the rebound Gypsy moth populations are on the rise in Washington County and officials at the Maryland Department of Agriculture are planning to spray nearly 700 acres of trees this spring before the insects take hold. An insecticide made partly from bacteria that occurs naturally in soils will be sprayed aerially around the second and third weeks of May on 673 acres at Chestnut Grove Park in the southern part of the county, and in the Mount Aetna area in the northern part, said Betsie Handley, regional entomologist with the Forest Pest Management section of the state Department of Agriculture.

By RICHARD F. BELISLE Staff Writer, Waynesboro The gypsy moth appears to have been brought under control, and scientists and foresters in the Tri-State area say there are a lot of reasons why their numbers have declined. "That's the $64 million question," said Robert Tichenor, head of Maryland's forest pest management division, of the reason for the dramatic reduction in gypsy moth populations in recent years. The voracious insects have chewed through millions of acres of forests in the Tri-State area since the early 1970s.

The sound of a gypsy moth infestation is distinctive: It sounds like a gentle summer rain. That's the sound of millions of gypsy moth droppings falling through the trees. Weathering the worst gypsy moth outbreak in 12 years, Washington County is in the middle of a waste monsoon. Bob Tichenor, chief of Forest Pest Management for the Maryland Department of Agriculture, has been dealing with gypsy moths for 25 years. He says their population seems to go through five-year cycles, and 2007 is right in the middle of a big one. "We have defoliation from Cecil to Garrett (counties)

ANNAPOLIS - The Maryland Department of Agriculture is urging residents to help it combat the worst gypsy moth outbreak to hit the state since at least 1995. Despite the department's spraying of more than 50,000 acres of public and privately owned land in May, wooded areas of Washington, Frederick, Allegany, Garrett, Cecil, Harford, Baltimore, Anne Arundel, Howard, Montgomery and Carroll counties "are having problems with defoliation by the gypsy moth," the department said in a news release.

LOCUST GROVE - There's a battle on South Mountain, but it isn't between Civil War armies. Rich Haden pulled a knife from his pocket and pierced one of the thousands of fuzzy caterpillars carpeting tree trunks along a more than two-mile stretch near the Appalachian Trail on South Mountain between Reno Monument and Locust Grove roads. Green "leaf juice" seeped from the wound. Haden and his friend Eric Garns thought the leaf-munching gypsy moth caterpillars were no longer a problem in Washington County, they said.

WASHINGTON COUNTY -- Maryland has doubled its efforts in the war on gypsy moths this spring, spraying twice as much forest land as it did last year to ward off the destructive caterpillar. In Washington County, about 17,000 acres have been sprayed - more than double the 7,000 acres that were treated here last year, said Julianne A. Oberg, spokeswoman for the Maryland Department of Agriculture. Across the state, sprayers will hit almost 100,000 acres in 13 counties this spring with aerial insecticides.

CHAMBERSBURG, Pa. -- The destruction last year was nothing like that of the early 1990s, but Pennsylvania plans to more than triple the area of public and private forested lands for aerial spraying this year to contain further damage by the voracious gypsy moth caterpillar. The state will spray 222,375 acres in 27 counties, said Terrence Brady, spokesman for the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources. In the spring of 2007, about 65,000 acres in 19 counties were treated for the gypsy moth.

Gypsy moth spraying set in Pa. WAYNESBORO, Pa. -- Gypsy moth spraying will start in the next few days in Franklin County and 24 other Pennsylvania counties to suppress the woodland insect pest. The Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources (DCNR) announced gypsy moths are prevalent enough to require 178,000 acres of woodlands to be sprayed in parts of the state. Officials described the gypsy moth as "one of the most destructive forest pests in Pennsylvania.

The gypsy moth season is winding down in our area. The good news is that the defoliation is not as bad as many of us feared. Last year was serious and many thought this year would be a disaster. But there are two natural controls for the gypsy moth larvae: One is a virus and the other is a fungus. Both of these need to have periods of wet cool weather in the spring to become active and provide control. That didn't happen the last few years and the gypsy moth population exploded.

WASHINGTON COUNTY -- Maryland has doubled its efforts in the war on gypsy moths this spring, spraying twice as much forest land as it did last year to ward off the destructive caterpillar. In Washington County, about 17,000 acres have been sprayed - more than double the 7,000 acres that were treated here last year, said Julianne A. Oberg, spokeswoman for the Maryland Department of Agriculture. Across the state, sprayers will hit almost 100,000 acres in 13 counties this spring with aerial insecticides.

If I had my choice of facing Mothman or a voracious band of gypsy moths, I would take Mothman every time. Mothman, for those unfamiliar with unexplained and unearthly phenomena, is a creature who used to hang around Point Pleasant, W. Va. In 1966, several people reported seeing a large brown creature, shaped like a man, but featuring large red eyes and big wings. Mothman appeared several more times over the next year. Local residents blamed him for poor TV reception and sleepless nights as Mothman apparently liked to scream a lot. Sightings of the creature continued for about a year when Mothman used his bat-like wings to fly somewhere else.

Brace yourself. This is expected to be a bad year for gypsy moths. Last year, they rebounded after 20 years of low numbers to strip significant patches of forest and vex homeowners. Gypsy moth caterpillars have tremendous appetites. These "walking stomachs" can strip a large tree of its leaves in days. Oaks are their favorite entreé, but they will dine on birch, apple, willow, sweet gum, linden, hawthorne, Colorado spruce and other trees. Scientifically known as Lymantria dispar, gypsy moths do the most damage in areas heavily forested with their favorite trees.

ANNAPOLIS -- A bipartisan group of lawmakers is proposing a task force to study gypsy moth infestation and ways to control it before it gets any worse, but arborists and environmentalists want to be better represented. The Maryland Department of Agriculture said gypsy moths are the most destructive forest pests in Maryland. The moths, which eat the leaves on hardwood trees in May and June, have affected more than 1 million acres since 1980. "It literally looks like a war zone once they come through," said American Joe Miedusiewski, a lobbyist for the Maryland Arborist Association.

CHAMBERSBURG, PA. - The destruction last year was nothing like that of the early 1990s, but Pennsylvania plans to more than triple the area of public and private forested lands for aerial spraying this year to contain further damage by the voracious gypsy moth caterpillar. The state will spray 222,375 acres in 27 counties, said Terrence Brady, spokesman for the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources. In the spring of 2007, about 65,000 acres in 19 counties were treated for the gypsy moth.

CHAMBERSBURG, Pa. -- The destruction last year was nothing like that of the early 1990s, but Pennsylvania plans to more than triple the area of public and private forested lands for aerial spraying this year to contain further damage by the voracious gypsy moth caterpillar. The state will spray 222,375 acres in 27 counties, said Terrence Brady, spokesman for the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources. In the spring of 2007, about 65,000 acres in 19 counties were treated for the gypsy moth.

ANNAPOLIS - The Maryland Department of Agriculture is urging residents to help it combat the worst gypsy moth outbreak to hit the state since at least 1995. Despite the department's spraying of more than 50,000 acres of public and privately owned land in May, wooded areas of Washington, Frederick, Allegany, Garrett, Cecil, Harford, Baltimore, Anne Arundel, Howard, Montgomery and Carroll counties "are having problems with defoliation by the gypsy moth," the department said in a news release.

CHAMBERSBURG, Pa. - They entered the country through Massachusetts more than a century ago, were first spotted in Pennsylvania in the 1930s and devastated millions of acres of woodlands in the late 1980s and early 1990s. Gypsy moth caterpillars were back in force this spring, munching their way through hundreds of thousands of acres of oaks, other hardwoods and even coniferous trees. The damage has been done for this year - the caterpillars have metamorphosed into moths - but homeowners whose properties have been infested can take steps now to suppress the voracious insects.