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WSDA finds gypsy moths
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Capital Press
Published:
European gypsy moth
larvae feed on trees and shrups. The Washington State Department of Agriculture
trapped 42 gypsy moths this year and will likely propose a spraying program for
next spring.
Washington State Department of Agriculture has
trapped 10 Asian gypsy months, plus 32 European gypsy moths, including 21 in a
Seattle neighborhood.
OLYMPIA —
The Washington State Department of Agriculture has trapped 42 gypsy moths this
year, including 21 f the European variety on Seattle’s Capitol Hill, a densely
populated residential district.
The 42 also include 10 Asian
gypsy moths, which are considered more threatening to forests and orchards than
European moths. WSDA hadn’t snared an Asian gypsy moth since 1999.The discoveries may present WSDA with challenges. Spraying pesticides over Seattle neighborhoods to eradicate gypsy moths has drawn organized opposition in the past. WSDA did not spray on Capitol Hill after trapping six moths last summer.
Meanwhile, Asian gypsy months were found at two ports and several other places this summer. They’re more mobile and eat a wider variety of trees and shrubs than European moths and pose a major threat to urban, suburban and rural landscapes, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
WSDA spokesman Mike Louisell said Wednesday that the department has traps to collect in northwest Washington, but the trapping season is nearly over. The agency likely will decide by the end of the year on a spring spraying program, he said.
“We’re just looking at the scope
at what we have before us, and the challenge to respond,” he said.
The caterpillars emerge in the
spring to feast on leaves. European gypsy moths have defoliated hundreds of
thousands of acres in the Eastern U.S. and Great Lakes region.Asian gypsy moths aren’t established in the U.S.
WSDA has sprayed 93 times since 1979 to eradicate gypsy moths. Most large applications have been done from the air.
The department last spring
sprayed 220 acres in rural southwest Washington with Bacillus thuringiensis
var. kurstaki, commonly referred to as Btk and sold under the name Foray. WSDA
had trapped 16 gypsy moths andfound an egg mass in the area the previous
summer and fall.
WSDA hunted in Capitol Hill for
coin-sized egg masses to confirm a reproducing population, but did not find
any.WSDA sprayed 725 acres in the
Seattle neighborhoods of Ballard and Magnolia in 2000. A King County judge
denied a request by a group of residents to stop the application.Besides the 21 moths found on Capitol Hill, WSDA has trapped European gypsy moths in Jefferson County, Pierce County, two in Clark County, four in Thurston County and three more in King County.
WSDA caught Asian gypsy moths at the Port of Tacoma, Port of Vancouver, Tacoma neighborhood Norpoint, Gig Harbor in Kitsap County, Milton and Fife Heights in Pierce County, Hawks Prairie near Olympia, Nisqually in Thurston County, and two in Kent in King County.
Generally, European gypsy moth
eggs are carried into the state overland on outdoor belongings, such as patio
furniture.
Asian gypsy moth eggs arrive by
sea, attached to vessels arriving from ports in Russia, Japan, South Korea and
China, where the moths are prevalent.
WSDA set out 16,000 traps in
Western Washington this summer. The agency concentrated traps near ports an
where new residents are likely to move.
The number of gypsy moths trapped
in Washington has ranged widely. WSDA trapped a high of 1,315 in 1983 and only
one in 2013. The number trapped this summer was the most since 2006.
________________________________________________________
Dr. Helmuth W. Rogg
Director, Plant Protection & Conservation Programs Area
Dr. Helmuth W. Rogg
Director, Plant Protection & Conservation Programs Area
State Plant Regulatory
Official (SPRO)
Oregon Department of
Agriculture (ODA)
635 Capitol Street NE
Salem, OR 97301-2532
Tel.: 503-986-4662 (of.)
FAX: 503-986-4786
Cell-phone: 503-881-7359
http://oregon.gov/ODA/PLANT/
635 Capitol Street NE
Salem, OR 97301-2532
Tel.: 503-986-4662 (of.)
FAX: 503-986-4786
Cell-phone: 503-881-7359
http://oregon.gov/ODA/PLANT/
