Spraying Gypchek for Gypsy Moth

Just thought I'd share the aerial show a community gets when it is being sprayed for gypsy moth. The spraying took place this morning. A second spray will be done in 5 to 10 days.

Another pass.

Back again.

All done.

Target specific! Sure wish they'd treat my area right now. Lucky you!

We are about two miles from a population of Lycaeides melissa samuelis, hence Bt is not an option. The gypsy moth caterpillars are at about the second instar. I already have up to 1/8" in size feeding damage to the oak leaves and a lot of it. It was going to be a very bad year. Equil, does your state have a gypsy moth management program?

Btk is not target specific. Really glad they're using Gypchek by you.

Yes, we do have a program however funding is limited.

I've personally participated in gypsy moth surveys and I know we have some serious issues here. My county was the first county in which the gypsy moth was documented yet to the best of my knowledge, we've not used Gypchek.

Gypchek is expensive to produce, difficult to store and apply as well as less effective than Bt. But you know this stuff. It is used here only in situations where Bt could threaten an endangered species. Ohio worked really hard to restore the Karner Blue. First haibtat preservation and restoration and then species repopulation. The process began in the very late 80's. Takes time. And money.

What bugs me now is the asian lady beetle. They are just nuts around here. Harmless I'm told but gosh I hate those things. Talk about spoiling a good walk. They rank right up there with mosquitoes in nuisance value.

For this particular application, Gypchek is the most effective because it is target specific. We're not really talking Bt here but Btk. Big difference and it's not just the Karner Blue that would be negatively impacted should either of those more "affordable" products be used.

The introduced Asian Lady Beetle is going to be around for a long time. It loves to eat a particular aphid... the introduced soybean aphid that attacks our soybean crops and forces farmers to employ chemical control to keep food production up. The soybean aphid happens to overwinter in introduced Rhamnus spp. (Buckthorn). So here we have three exotic invasive species all having a field day on the continent of NA. Prior to removing at least 50% of the Buckthorn on this property, we were inundated with Asian lady beetles. Now their populations are noticeably down to that which is more manageable.

I sure hope those gypsy moths never make it to the south, but sooner or later they probably will. If I lived in your area I would probably have a yard full of sycamores and tulip poplars so I wouldn't have to deal with them.

It's a shame Ash trees are being attacked by EAB, they were some of the few trees that were resistant to gypsy moths.

Bad news escambiaguy,
http://www.fs.fed.us/ne/morgantown/4557/gmoth/spread/

It was documented in our area much earlier than the year 2005 shown on the map. It would appear the rate of expansion was grossly underestimated.

I used pheremone traps. It was difficult keeping up with emptying them but I believe it does help.

Equil - My personal experience watching the males fly makes me believe that the traps can be part of a control strategy. How do you sight your traps? This year we don't have any traps. My oaks, and others, are being burlap banded. Counting the caterpillers trapped in the burlap will help guage the effectiveness of the Gypchek.

Could the moth be multi-generational in the southern states?

This message was edited May 15, 2007 10:33 AM

I bought as many traps as I could get my hands on. I've got quite a few oaks around here. I spaced them out as evenly as I could. There was no strategy per se and I looked on line to find suggested spacing and didn't come up with anything. I just put them any where I thought I could put them. One thing though, you have to keep up with emptying the traps.

My traps were store bought but I've seen homemade traps that were probably equally as effective.

There are those who believed I was bringing them in and that the traps were ineffective. I don't know that I necessarily buy that because every gypsy moth in a trap represented one less adult capable of reproducing in my opinion.

Since the females don't fly you're only attracting the males. I don't believe that expands the range. It does provide a good indicator of what population density you are dealing with. The state did use traps here in areas thought to be uninfested to track and guage the spread. Last year was my first time seeing the males fly around my oaks. There were a lot of them I and I knew it was going to a bad year this year. There has been noticable feeding damage early on already. Much more than last year at the same stage. The population is building. The state is already discussing the likelyhood of repeating Gypchek next year.

Yes, it is true I was only nabbing males but that still takes an adult out of the population. When I found the egg sacs, I'd scrape them out of the bark with my finger nail if I could reach them and dab the area with Neem just in case I missed any. That helps too.

Unfortunately, I stopped using the traps. We were told the traps were interfering with the state's ability to gauge population density. I'd like to have my area treated with Gypchek. No way I'm putting those traps up again. We need some relief.

We had our final (second) application of gypchek this am. The sprays were 5 days apart. Looking at the oaks daily and I think we are getting a decent if not very good result but kind of early to tell for sure. It must be a heck of a lot of work, hanging and emptying traps. I've heard of people using those high powered "super soaker" squirt guns to knock egg cases off trees. Sounds like fun to boot.

You have to jump through a few hoops here to get sprayed but I must say that the state, working with OSU, has been just terrffic. High enough egg mass count, cooperative homeowners coupled with state and local government funding and you've got yourself a spray program. The state really stepped up to the plate. We were heading for a real rough time. Last year some poor homeowners had to use umbrellas to protect themselves from the heavy rain of droppings from the feeding caterpillers. Does your state spray?

Have the two of you noticed any feeding on the trees that are reported to be resistant (like the ones I mentioned), or is it mainly oaks? I think I read that Celtis species are also resistant.

When I went out to work the survey, my jaw was to the ground when I began finding egg sacs everywhere. I found some on the wooden structure for the men and women's rest room. Back at home, I even found them on stacked wood for the fireplaces. They don't seem to be all that picky about where they place that egg sac.

One thing is for sure, those egg sacs are tough and I bet they can withstand temps down as low as -25F. If you scrape them off your trees, let them drop into a plastic baggie. Nuke them in your microwave then toss them out in the garbage. They can't survive a microwave so there's no way if the bag breaks open while going to the dump that they can live to hatch the following year to devour our trees. Dont forget to dab the area that you removed the egg sac from with Neem or your product of choice.

As far as which species they are feeding on even though they are touted as "preferring oaks"-
http://www.gypsymoth.ento.vt.edu/vagm/Feeding_prefs_Ravlin.html

I found them feeding on my Cercis canadensis alba. I'm beginning to think they might not be all that picky depending on what's available at what stage they are at in their growth.

I just received an email from our civic association that included the following statements about the current situation in my neighborhood,

"Gypsy moth control measures are usually recommended when egg mass counts exceed 600 per acre, to control populations and prevent excessive defoliation. Because the egg mass counts far exceeded established threshold levels, control measures are being considered to prevent another season of defoliation. Aerially applied materials provide good control of gypsy moth populations, because they are applied near the caterpillars’ feeding area in the tree canopy. The City is exploring the possibility to have the area in [neighborhood] with high egg mass counts aerially sprayed to control the population.

Are there any issues that I should be concerned about? This subject will be brought up at an upcoming civic assoc. meeting -- any questions that you recommend that I ask?

Ask if they plan to use Bt or Gypchek. Bt is the most common and economical control. It is harlmess to all wildlife except caterpillers. However it is non selective for caterpillers. The good get sick and die with the bad. I would not refuse Bt however. With an egg mass population that high and a second season of feeding with the resultant defoliation approaching this approach would be more than appropriate. A second season of feeding and defoliation is going to subject the trees to severe stress. You will start to lose trees. My questions at this point would be who's the lead agency for coordinating the spraying and who's paying. I would also ask how home owners will be informed of the effectiveness.

The Gypchek spraying last May here was very successful here. The egg mass count last fall was reduced 97% from the previous year. No spraying is necessary this coming season. Now it is wait and see to monitor how fast the population rebuilds.

By all means, support the program. There are always a few individuals who will object to having anything sprayed over their head, who don't understand what Bt is and how it works and don't understand what a real threat Gypsy Moth is. If one person refuses to allow spraying over their property then an area of 500 ft is blocked out of the spray area. Too many of those 500 ft block outs and you no longer have an effective spraying program. Educating the property owners and gaining their acceptance and cooperation is absolutely essential.

We had one property owner who just would not cooperate. She hated government period, and was not about to let government spray anything over her head. Her neighbors were really upset because they wanted their trees sprayed but because of her they were blocked out. They wound up paying a private company to spray a worse chemical (Sevin) from the ground up (less effective). Fortunately they were able to arrange the spraying when they knew she wouldn't be home. The tree company that sprayed also gave them a group rate discount.

But as I said, cooperation is key. Support the program and learn enough to help persuade anyone who might be reluctant. Often they will trust the word of a friend or neighbor, when they have doubts about a government program.

Please post how the meeting went.

Thank you, Snapple!!! I posted here specifically so that I could learn more and then take that info. to the meeting with me. I'll do a bit more research on the topic beforehand, but I am eager to hear of any pro's / con's that others have experienced.

FWIW, I'm not opposed to this spraying, but will feel better after I learn more about those chemicals.

Bt isn't a chemical. It occurs all around you in nature. Gypchek isn't a chemical either. You have nothing to fear from either one. Sevin is a man made chemical which is never used is state areial spraying programs. Sorry I confused you.

http://npic.orst.edu/factsheets/BTgen.pdf

http://www.ohioagriculture.gov/gypsymoth/information/Gypchek%20Fact%20Sheet.pdf

Say it!

Bt is Bacillus thuringiensis, a bacterium. It is a pretty common insecticide used to control caterpillars and some other pests. When consumed by caterpillars eating the foliage of plants that it is applied to, it acts in the caterpillar's digestive system to kill them.

For those that can't open the pdf documents linked above, here is a simple summary:

http://www.ext.colostate.edu/Pubs/insect/05556.html

Done.

Even better! I'm a big fan of using beneficials. Thanks for the information.

I've been using Bt's for several years. Biological controls have been gaining in popularity recently which I believe is a good thing.

http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/p.php?pid=1869336

I use Milky Spore, but have been wanting to get others ... just hadn't done my homework yet.

I've been using Milky Spore in a few potting mixes for some of my tropical plants for a while. I like that it is non-chemical and I like that it isn't exactly target specific.

If I were you, I would ask them about the "inert" ingredients used to disperse the Bt or whatever they're using. There was a big fuss out here not too long ago--they were spraying some sort of moth pheromone to try and control the light brown apple moth that's invaded our area, and a number of people complained that it made them sick, etc. In this case, I don't think it was the pheromone itself that was the problem, it was the inert ingredients used to carry/disperse it. With pesticides, it's pretty easy to figure out the level of toxicity associated with the active ingredient, but with the inert ingredients there hasn't been nearly as much safety testing done, and companies aren't required to disclose to you what the inert ingredients are, so it's a lot more of an unknown.

I remember when Los Angeles was sprayed for med flies (Mediterranean fruit flies), the inert ingredient was an oil of some kind, maybe mineral oil or vegetable oil. The droplets of oil (and malathion) formed tiny lenses and the sun burned little speckles on car paint jobs. What a bummer that was.

Wow, this is great information. Thanks, everyone!

We are receiving our first round of Bt spraying via helicopter right now. Round two should happen in about a week.

So. This will kill numerous beneficial insects besides the g.m. cat's?

It will kill caterpillers susceptible to Bt. Nothing else.

http://www.nysaes.cornell.edu/ent/biocontrol/pathogens/bacteria.html

It would seem from reading this that more "bad" go down that "good".

Bt's much better than a lot of the things they could spray, it may kill a few desirable caterpillars, but the majority of beneficials will be just fine.