Keeping Tabs On The Gypsy Moth

Keeping Tabs On The Gypsy Moth. I’m Greg Martin with today’s Fruit Grower Report.

It’s been a few years since Oregon has had a serious gypsy moth outbreak, but what has been found this fall outside of Grants Pass is something to keep an eye on, says entomologist Helmuth Rogg of the Oregon Department of Agriculture.

ROGG:  That shows us that we are at the very beginning of the infestation. But it shows us also that we have two in one trap, that there is something brewing.

Despite the detections in Josephine County, there are no plans to spray for gypsy moth in the area next spring. Instead, additional traps will be placed to see if an infestation has actually established. Gypsy moth spray projects used to be an annual affair.

ROGG:  Next year will be the fifth year in a row that we have not had an eradication in gypsy moth. We almost have to relearn everything if we get there again with eradication. It’s not a question of if, it’s a question of when it will happen again.

The past few years, gypsy moth detections in Oregon have been historically low compared to the thousands that were trapped in the mid 1980s. But the threat of new introductions remains high as people move to Oregon or visit from infested areas back east and bring the plant eating pest with them, or ships carry cargo from Asia that might harbor gypsy moth eggs. That’s why a robust trapping program by ODA needs to continue.

That’s today’s Fruit Grower Report. I’m Greg Martin on the Ag Information Network.