18
—Lancaster Farming, Saturday, June 10,1978
Gypsy moths a perpetual problem
By JOANNE SPAHR
HARRISBURG - They’re
just another example of man
sticking his fingers where
they didn’t belong and en
ding up with a mess on his
hands.
“They” are gypsy moths,
and they’re a problem.
Back in 1868 a Frenchman
who was researching the
silk-producing abilities of
this common European moth
imported a few into
Massachusetts. While there
are slightly different version
of the incident leading to
their release, basically, a
high wind set the moths free
from their confinement and
scattered them over the
countryside.
Today, they are a
problem.
Last year, alone, gypsy
moth caterpillars visibly
defoliated 1.3 million acres
of trees in eastern Penn
sylvania, and this year’s
situation is expected to be
worse than m 1977.
The caterpillar stage is the
point at which they are
destructive. The caterpillars
eat the leaves of hardwood
trees, preferably oak r and
heavy infestations strip
trees of their leaves. In some
cases, there is 100 per cent
defoliation, and at that time,
a mid-July forest area can
have a “dead of-Wmter”
appearance.
Although it is difficult to
generalize, William Slippey,
control operations section
supervisor for the Depart
ment of Forest Pest
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Bureau of Forestry under
DER, says that after one
defoliation there can be as
much as five per cent
mortality rate in trees; after
two consecutive years of
defoliation, 15 to 30 per cent;
and after-three consecutive
years of defoliation, as much
as 50 to 60 per cent mortality.
“There is an area in Pike
County, primarily forest
land, where we do have over
50 per cent mortality,”
points out Slippey, “and in
some sectors, there is an 80
per cent mortality in oak.”
Not only do they defoliate
and in some cases kill trees,
but these caterpillars also
can cause mental
aggrevation to the in
dividuals living in infested
areas.
“There have been stories
of people having nervous
breakdowns in the Poconos
from the caterpillars," notes
Maurice Hobaugh, Valley
District 17 forester, “People
just can’t stand having
millions of those caterpillars
dropping out of trees and
invading their homes,” he
states.
Although some written
accounts state that the
mental anguish caused by
gypsy moths is greatly
exaggerated, the problem
caused by the caterpillars i§
definitely a nuisance. For
example, individuals have
reported that a heavy in
festation can cause car tires
to spin and can force home
owners to remain inside
their homes.
How serious the problem is
in Pennsylvania is hard to
assess. According to Slippey,
who has supervised
government spraying
programs in Pennsylvania
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for the past eight years, the
Commonwealth’s problem
areas are broken down into
woodlots with some wooded
ridges, which makes
analyzing the problem
difficult.
“The gypsy has been in
Pennsylvania for several
years,” he states, “some
areas are worse than others;
in some areas they are
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collapsing or cycling. In
other words, the gypsy moth
is in a state of flux.”
Hobaugh noted that most
of Lancaster County is in the
“moderate defoliation”
•class. Moderate defoliation
refers to 36 to 60 per cent
defoliation. Hobaugh went
on to say that there are some
spotty areas in Lancaster
County which have 61 to 70
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per cent defoliation, and
some areas in upper Chester
and lower Berks Counties
have 100 per cent defoliated
trees.
To combat the problem,
several avenues are
presently being taken.
According to James Nichols,
chief of the division of Forest
Pest Management with the
(Turn to Page 37)
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