$gypsy moth$?

[Tree M.D.]

Am I the only one seeing a ton of gypsy moth egg masses this dormant season? I live and service New Jersey. I think it may become a problem this year.

 

[Darin]

I am not from the east but apparently you arent the only on that is seeing this problem. I read in Tree Care Industry Magazine that Maryland forest managers said it the biggest infestation of gypsy moth caterpillars in at least six years. The forest managers are planning a strategy for spraying pesticides on 50,000 acres. They defoliated 23,231 acres last year. Not as bad as 1995 with 93,864 acres. These acrage numbers are for Maryland. Its always nice to know you have guests up in the tree when your trimming isnt it?

 

[Kneejerk Bombas]

What happens to these defoliated trees?
Do many of them die? Do the gypsy moths stick around for a second feeding on the tree when it starts to releaf?

 

[NickfromWI]

Yep, here, too

I've been seeing the caterpillars show up in a few trees now and then. I just found one little bugger in a Norway maple in buried in some leaves trapped in a crotch. In a willow the other day, I found quite a few caterpillars. I'm still waiting for the mother-load!

love
nick

 

[John Paul Sanborn]

They should be pupating by the time the trees releaf. Pupation starts around 8 weeks after hatching.

After the egg laying period climbers in infested areas should keep a suspention of veggie oil on hand to spray egg masses.

We are seeing a lot of them in this area, some comunites are doing aerial bT sprays. i think they should be doing some sort of follow up spray during the second instar, still see a lot of activity.

We've done a number of large removals for people who do not what chem work done around thier living areas. Cats so thick thier castings rain down on the deck, leaving the people to sweep bug poop every day.

I've been in trees so bad you cannot place a hand without squishing a few of the critters.

 

[Eric E.]

Here in NE PA there were alot of egg masses present before hatch. Few caterpillars survived thanks to the cool, wet weather and Entomophaga.

 

[John Paul Sanborn]

Gypsy moth caterpillar killed by Entomophaga maimaiga fungus.

 

[kurtztree]

Is there any way to treat an oak tree for gypsy moths before they even start laying eggs on the tree. they are in some other trees in that area or can you only spray for them ? thanks

 

[TheTreeSpyder]

When i was researching this before, i found these:

Full life stages gypsy moth pix

Michigan's gypsy moth program

 

[Dan F]

Found it interesting when a salesman from Lesco (actually I think he may be the store manager) told me that the US Forest Service is still using DDT- legally. Said they are using it to treat for the gypsy moth.

'Course, that's what I was *told*, I haven't seen anything in print. He seemed to know his stuff though, and had a good background to back it up....


Dan

 

[John Paul Sanborn]

Cant see that, there are too many other effective products out there.

He probably heard Bt and did not tknow what they were talking about

Kurt, look at the tread on Bug Barrier

 

[NickfromWI]

So veggie oil is the trick, huh? I got grove of oak and birch trees that are heavily infested with the egg masses. I can see the trees that are infested have much less foliage than do the few non-infested ones.

Anyone know what the best way is to save this grove of trees? Should I spray each egg mass with something? Is there a more effective spray that can be applied to the whole tree?

love
nick

 

[Nickrosis]

What a resurrected and re-resurrected thread!

At this stage, I would climb and spray the egg masses with dormant oil, aka horticultural oil, to smother and kill the eggs. It's very labor intensive.

Alternatively, you could wait until just after they hatch and spray with a product like TalstarOne in the spring to kill them at that point. The caterpillars would've caused very little damage at that point, and Talstar (a.i. is bifenthrin, a synthetic pyrethroid) is very effective.

Alternatively, you could use Bt, bacillus thuringiensis, a biological agent that ravages their internal organs. That would also be a spring tool.

If it were in my yard, I would spray it all by hand with dormant oil. One patch at a time. For a customer, it would be too expensive, and I would recommend the latter two.

 

[NickfromWI]

Well, this grove of trees is one that is near and dear to my heart. It right near my ropes course at the camp that I work at. I was planning on climbing each tree and scraping off the egg masses. So (as I could've guessed) it seems there is an oil that should be sprayed on it? How effective is vegetable oil? We thought about using a small torch and burning the masses, but we tried it on a few and it seemed to only burn the eggs on the outer surface of the mass, the ones right next to the trunk of the tree were unaffected.

I'd hate to lose these trees. These masses were just layed in the past few days. Any idea how long until they hatch? There is a Bartlett nearby....maybe they can spray the Bt on it right after the eggs hatch. I'll have to figure out when that might be.

love
nick

 

[NickfromWI]

From the USDA Forest Service webiste, (click here) I read that the winter is spent in the egg stage. Does this jive with what you all know?

love
nick

 

[Guy Meilleur]

Is there a way to culture the entomophagous Mamaiga (sp?) and apply it? A cultured entomophagous fungus--Conidiobolus--works well against Formosan termites in LA..

I hate to hear about big removals because of poop on decks and anti-chemical philosphies (which I share).

 

[Kneejerk Bombas]

Originally posted by Guy Meilleur
anti-chemical philosphies (which I share).

Start with spraying with Golden Pest Spray Oil on the egg masses.
This can be done pretty effectively from a tall ladder because the egg masses tend to be on the lower part of the tree and usually on the underside of limbs. Use binoculars to spot the eggs.
Then use banding in spring to get more of them as they go up and down the tree, an activity they do once each day.
Next, BT can be used as mentioned in the first couple instars.
A final control, once they reach later instars, is to spray or hand pick the critters off the lower trunk and step on them.
All these treatments are quite anti-chemical and effective.

 

[Nickrosis]

Golden Pest Spray Oil, that's what I was trying to remember! It just came to mind as I found it in Midwest Arborist Supplies's catalog. I used that last fall with great success. There are no all natural solutions, though.

-Hand Picking: you produce greenhouse gases as you breathe
-Torching: again, creating greenhouse gases
-Dormant Oil: it's a chemical
-Biological Agents: not usually native species, plus they usually kill all Lepidopterans
-Insecticides: ahh, scary! they kill Lepidopterans and Dipterans, etc.

If it's that near and dear, climb and spray with dormant oil. If it's too much to climb, spray them in the spring with Bt or with Talstar.

 

[NickfromWI]

I contacted the county extension office. Here is the reply I got....tell me if it seems sound to you

*******************************

Hello,

This late in the season, there isn't much that can be done to control the caterpillars - they are too large for most insecticides to be effective. Fortunately, trees can withstand multiple years of defoliation before sustaining major damage. Usually by the third year, the caterpillar population is low enough so that control measures aren't warranted. So, the best advice is to make sure the trees don't go through a prolonged drought (not too tough to do this year!), don't fertilize and to wait the gypsy moth cycle out.

Barbara Murphy

*********************************

Just thought I'd pass it on!

love
nick