The Department of Natural Resources intends to begin gypsy moth treatments again next week, but not in Kosciusko County.
Efforts to control the pest here have been quite successful, according to DNR managing state entomologist Phil Marshall.
Marshall holds two titles, and also has been the state forest health specialist for more than 30 years.
"Gone is a relative term," Marshall said about the pests. "Last year we only had a few single moths trapped in Pierceton. We didn't catch anything in the Wawasee area."
The area around Hillcrest Cemetery, south of Pierceton, was sprayed with Btk (Bacillus thuringiensis var. Kurstaki) for three years. The infestation had spread to East Ryerson Road and north to South First Street, and just south of the cemetery where 700E and Ind. 13 meet.
The Btk application is considered extreme because it kills all caterpillars, even the beneficial species.
An established population of gypsy moth caterpillars can defoliate huge swaths of forest. Sometimes the trees can recover, often they cannot.
Gypsy moths found along the southern end of Lake Wawasee also was a concern for several years. The DNR decided to treat that area with aerial spraying of Disrupt II
Disrupt II is a controlled-release pheromone formula designed to disrupt normal male flight orientation to females.
The gypsy moth was introduced from Europe in Massachusetts in 1869. They were thought to be a substitute for silk worms. Escaping their confinement 135 years ago, they have been spreading west and south ever since.
Adult females cannot fly. The species travels through the human transportation of egg masses, or when young caterpillars crawl to treetops and are blown onto vehicles by the wind.
The isolated pockets of infestation in Indiana have came because people brought them here.
Traps are distributed across the state every year, spaced about 2 kilometers apart. Moths were found in traps near Syracuse Lake, too, but not enough to warrant a treatment program.
The gypsy moth is considered the most serious urban landscape pest in the United States. They prefer to feed on oak leaves, but find more than 500 plants tasty.
Populations have spread to the entire state of Michigan, one-third of Ohio, portions of Wisconsin and all northeastern states down to North Carolina.
Now the DNR is focusing on eradication efforts in Goshen, around Churubusco and Blue Lake, which is northwest of Churubusco, Portage, and in Allen County - in Grabill, in Hathaway and several areas in Fort Wayne, and in Delaware County in the town of Nebo.
"When I say the gypsy moths are there, it's still at a level most people aren't going to notice. The populations are low," Marshall said. "You're not going to see a lot of caterpillars or anything.
DNR personnel are just getting ready to set traps. They should in place by the end of June and collected prior to Labor Day.
"Once we know where possible populations are, we'll decide whether we need to take action," Marshall said.
Just as the gypsy moth problem is under control, Marshall and his staff face the Emerald Ash Borer, a pesky exotic first discovered in Detroit in 2002.
The adult beetles nibble on ash foliage, but cause little damage. The larvae (the immature stage) feed on the inner bark of ash trees, disrupting the tree's ability to transport water and nutrients.
Emerald ash borer probably arrived in the United States on solid wood packing material carried in cargo ships or airplanes originating in its native Asia. Emerald ash borer is also established in Windsor, Ontario, was found in Ohio in 2003, northern Indiana in 2004, and northern Illinois in 2006.
"The EAB is in scattered locations around Indiana," Mitchell said. "The biggest population is in and around Huntington."
High-risk points are campgrounds and sawmills. The DNR is establishing traps in a 2-mile grid based on where there's habitat.
The first site was in a campground, according to the entomologist. People owned the camp site and they were from Michigan. It's also been discovered in Shipshewana.
On the Net: Gypsy Moth Slow the Spread - www.gmsts.org
