Purdue News

April 16, 1999 Four more counties under gypsy moth quarantine WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. -- Gypsy moths have eaten their way into four more northern Indiana counties, bringing with them a quarantine that took effect April 1 for nursery crop producers and Christmas tree growers in the area, says Purdue University entomologist Cliff Sadof. Meanwhile, homeowners in those counties must learn to cope with the new permanent residents. Nursery producers and Christmas tree growers in Porter, Allen, Lagrange and Elkhart counties now must have their crops inspected and certified free of all gypsy moth life stages before they can ship trees to uninfested counties, Sadof said. Earlier, the quarantine was applied to Steuben County. Producers in those five counties should contact Gayle Jansen at the Indiana Department of Natural Resources at (317) 232-4120 for help assessing the gypsy moth threat on their farms. Indiana homeowners can't do much but learn to live with the voracious gypsy moths, which eventually will make their way throughout the state. Massive spray programs might slow the inevitable invasion, but they could also make things worse by killing the natural enemies of gypsy moths and other pests, Sadof said. "When gypsy moths first enter an area they have few natural enemies, so they do lots of damage," he said. "Large, older caterpillars can eat all the leaves off a tree in a matter of days. Plus, under really infested trees, caterpillar droppings and smelly, diseased caterpillars can cover the ground, chairs or picnic tables." After the first wave of gypsy moths takes its toll on the trees, natural enemies will start to keep the insects in check and will lessen the magnitude of the problem in later years, Sadof said. While healthy trees will send out a second flush of leaves after the first leaves are eaten, three or four consecutive years of defoliation can be deadly. Homeowners can take the following steps to help their trees and landscapes withstand the onslaught. Keep trees healthy. Water them when they're dry, and be careful to avoid damaging them. When choosing new trees for the yard, opt for plants that are less tasty to the moths, and aim for a diversity of plants. The moths eat any of 500 different plant species, but oak trees are a favorite. Learn to recognize gypsy moth life stages so you don't bring the pest home from infested parts of the state. If you think gypsy moths are in your yard, call the Purdue Cooperative Extension office in your county and ask the educator there to verify the diagnosis. They also can suggest possible treatment. Gypsy moths were brought from Europe to Massachusetts by an entomologist named Francois Trouvelot in 1869. Trouvelot had hoped to cross them with silk moths to create oak-leaf-eating insects that could spin silk. It didn't work. But some of the gypsy moths escaped from his backyard colony and began munching local flora. Since then, they've spread through the northeastern United States, northeast Ohio and Michigan's lower peninsula. The line of infesting insects moves about 13 miles a year, munching leaves off of three million acres of forest annually. For a list of the gypsy moth's favorite plants, photos of the insects and more, visit the Indiana Gypsy Moth Education Home Page. Source: Cliff Sadof, (765) 494-5983, cliff_sadof@entm.purdue.edu Writer: Rebecca J. Goetz, (765) 494-0461, rjg@aes.purdue.edu Purdue News Service: (765) 494-2096; e-mail, purduenews@purdue.edu To the Purdue News and Photos Page