Continuously serving Kosciusko County since 1854
PIERCETON - They're here.
Carried on silken strings and chewing their way through the tree tops, the dreaded gypsy moths have arrived in Kosciusko County.
The creatures are considered the most destructive pest of the urban landscape and hardwood forests in this country.
Indiana Department of Natural Resources entomology and forestry experts hosted public meetings in Syracuse and Pierceton Wednesday about the migrating menace.
According to Gail Jansen of the IDNR's Division of Entomology and Plant Pathology, the gypsy moth was introduced into this country in 1869, as a silk worm that could withstand cooler climates.
When some moths escaped containers, the naturalist who brought them here went immediately to the Massachusetts government to warn them of the dangers. He was ignored.
In the last 131 years, the moths have moved south, west and north.
In 1990 they defoliated more than 8 million acres of U.S. forest and in 1992 defoliated more than 650,000 acres in Michigan.
In 1998 the gypsy moths became established in Steuben County. DeKalb and Steuben counties are under quarantine, which means spot infestations of gypsy moths can no longer be eradicated.
Last year traps produced gypsy moths south of Lake Wawasee, including South Shore Golf Course, Hillcrest Cemetery south of Pierceton and in Pierceton.
Kelly Bontrager, of the IDNR Forestry Division, presented a slide show in the Pierceton community center showing the gypsy moth's four developmental stages of life: egg, caterpillar, pupa and adult.
The male is brown with distinctive feathery antennae. The female is white. Both are marked with dark inverted "V's" pointing to a dot on both wings.
"The gypsy moth loves oak, birch and cherry," Bontrager said. "If the population is high enough, they'll eat anything."
In fact, during the caterpillar stage, they can eat the foliage of 500 species of trees and plants.
Aerial spraying of Disrupt¨ II is planned in Syracuse and south of Pierceton in early June, before the males begin to fly.
Disrupt II is a gypsy moth controlled-release pheromone formula designed to disrupt normal male flight orientation to females.
This reduces mating opportunities. It does not eradicate them.
An extreme measure would be to apply Btk (Bacillus thuringiensis var. Kurstaki). This kills all caterpillars, even the beneficial species.
How did the gypsy moth arrive in Kosciusko County? With their silk-thread transport, which the newly-hatched caterpillars string out to catch the wind, humans may have unwittingly brought them to the area.
New England, Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania and Washington, D.C., and portions of Michigan, North Carolina, Ohio, Virginia and West Virginia are generally infected.
The opportunistic females, who do not fly, will lay their egg cases anywhere, on nursery stock, the undercarriages of any vehicle, firewood or outdoor furniture. Each case can produce up to 1,000 eggs.
Eighty years ago a virus, entomophaga myamyga, was introduced in heavily infected areas. A long, wet spring is required for the virus to be effective. A couple of years ago many states had that "perfect" spring and gypsy moth populations were devastated.
The IDNR representatives did not offer any hope, however. The gypsy moth invasion in Indiana is alarming north of U.S. 80 and is moving southwest.
"We're in a transition zone," IDNR Entomologist Bruce Cummings said, "and want to keep the isolated populations at bay."
The best defense for homeowners is to maintain their trees in the best manner possible.
A healthy tree can withstand a year or two of defoliation.
Older, less vigorous trees suffering from drought can be killed by a single defoliation.
Each caterpillar, distinctive with its five pairs of blue spots and six pairs of red spots along the back, can consume up to 11 square feet of foliage from early May until June.
This summer's spraying may stave off the county gypsy moth population but the pest is, unfortunately, here to stay.
For more information contact the Department of Entomology, Purdue University, 765-494-5983, or IDNR, 317-232-4120.
The Kosciusko County Extension Office and the Soil and Water Conservation District have further information about the gypsy moth and facts about maintaining healthy trees.
On the Net: www.state.in.us/dnr/entomology/gypsy.htm and www.entm.purdue.edu/Entomology/est/Moth/index.htm
