In late summer 2020 many people remarked on how the canopy of trees was being eaten away by gypsy moths. Some tried to swat & capture the moths; and before that there was effort to trap the caterpillars on tree trunks. As we start to have warmer temperatures it is now the time to scrape off the eggs which have been laid on the tree trunks by last year’s moths. The photos to the left are what the eggs look like now. A King City resident, Bill Patterson, published an article published in King Weekly Sentinel with the full story on the cycle of these moths; and very importantly how anyone can help to reduce the infestation this year and the damage to our trees. As he reports oak trees are the favoured diet but few tree species are truly protected. Once the eggs hatch it is too late. Here is his article.
A number of us have been looking at the cocoons on Manitou drive. There are thousands everywhere you look. There was talk about ‘getting’ them now but we planned nothing yet.
I will talk to neighbour again.
The big question is: what is the township doing about the scourge. Will you help volunteers?
One additional bit of information for homeowners wanting to protect their high-value residential trees from extensive defoliation is the option of biological insecticide spraying with BTK. It is essentially the same product used for mosquito control annually in places like Pottageville.
Safer’s BTK can be used safely by homeowners with a hand pump style sprayer. The only limitation is the height of tree that can be sprayed with a hand sprayer.
From our own experience last year, we removed egg masse and hand picked larvae by the thousands but the small caterpillars will continually “parachute” in from neighbouring trees. BTK was the final fall-back solution and we expect that will be the case again this year. Many people only became aware of the BTK option when stores were sold out. Be proactive to avoid disappointment.