Trappers employed by the Minnesota Department of Agriculture (MDA) have caught a record number of gypsy moths this year.
On Tuesday, October 22, 201, the department said that 69,400 gypsy moths were trapped in Minnesota in 2013, breaking the previous number record of 27,858 caught in 2009.
Although trapping took place statewide, about 90 percent of the moths captured came from northeast Minnesota, said Lucia Hunt, gypsy moth unit inspector for the MDA. Trapping is not meant to control the insect population, but counting the number of moths caught in the traps gives MDA officials a sense of the size and location of the gypsy moth population.
In June the MDA proposed a 2014 quarantine for Lake and Cook counties that would hopefully slow the spread of gypsy moths to other parts of the state. This proposal came after seven years of treating the moths with poisons and pheromones, neither of which worked.
The first treatment for gypsy moth was done in 1980 in St. Paul. Since then, over 767,000 acres have been treated across the state – mostly in northern Minnesota.
“We have put up a valiant fight for many years and will continue to do so,” said MDA Plant Protection Director Geir Friisoe. “These numbers tell us the battle plan must begin to shift. We go from keeping gypsy moths out of Minnesota to containing and slowing the spread of the insects that are here.”
Gypsy moth caterpillars can defoliate large sections of forest. The pests eat the leaves of many trees and shrubs, favoring oak, poplar, birch and willow. Severe, repeated infestations can kill trees, especially when the trees are already stressed by drought or other factors.
Over the next several weeks MDA staff will search for reproducing gypsy moth populations. Evidence of egg masses will be an indication the bug has taken up permanent residence in the state, and it will guide potential treatments and regulation in the future. These searches will be conducted in Lake and St. Louis counties.
Officials will also continue to control the gypsy moth population with the biocontrol agent Entomophaga maimaiga, a fungus that can kill the insect when ingested. Fall and spring releases of the agent will be planned for high-risk sites in Lake and Cook counties, home to the greatest number of gypsy moths found this year.
If enacted, the gypsy moth quarantine would call for wood (logs, pulpwood, firewood) to be inspected and certified before being shipped out of the quarantine area. Loggers and sawmill owners don’t like the quarantine because it will add costs and place restrictions on where and when their wood can be shipped.
“Loggers and industry have the cost of quarantines forced on us and the critters still spread. Why? Because we’re easy to find, easy to inspect and they (MDA) have the authority to do it. Not because it’s effective,” wrote Wayne Brandt, executive vice president of the Minnesota Timber Producers Association in the July/August/ issue of the Timber Bulletin.
Minnesotans can help fight gypsy moths and other defoliators by taking two simple steps to avoid giving the pests a ride to new areas. First, don’t transport firewood. Second, when leaving any area infested with gypsy moths, check tents, vehicles and other outdoor articles for the moths’ distinctive fuzzy, buff-colored egg mas
So far 20 other states have enacted gypsy moth quarantines, and still the moths continue to spread. And as residents of those states have learned, once quarantine is in place, it is there for good.
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