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Pulling back the curtains on wage-theft enforcement in MN; Trump's latest attack is on RFK, Jr; NM LGBTQ+ equality group endorses 2024 'Rock Star' candidates; Michigan's youth justice reforms: Expanded diversion, no fees.

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Forest Expert to Landowners: Wait Out Spongy Moth Outbreak

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Tuesday, July 12, 2022   

Defoliated trees Granite Staters come across this summer may be a result of the spongy moth caterpillar, formerly known as the gypsy moth.

The New Hampshire Division of Forests and Lands does an annual survey to map the impacts of the spongy moths, and it takes place in late June through mid-July, when caterpillars are at their largest size and mostly done eating trees.

Kyle Lombard, forest entomologist and coordinator of the Division's Forest Health Program, said last year and this year are seeing the most defoliation since the early 1990s. He pointed out while they prefer oak trees, they also will feed on other trees such as pine, spruce or hardwood maple.

"They completely defoliate the tree, and when the tree has been defoliated a couple of times a year for two or three years, it's very hard on the vigor," Lombard explained. "You tend to get a lot of mortality after year two and three of major outbreaks."

Lombard thinks the outbreak is because of the decline of a fungus which normally controls the spongy moth population, Entomophaga maimaiga. He emphasized drought conditions from a couple of years ago really affected the fungus. The Forests and Land survey so far has mapped about 40,000 acres of spongy moths in Carroll County, and Lombard estimates there may be two to three times more statewide.

For landowners and homeowners, Lombard recommended waiting the spongy moth outbreak out, noting it is often a better course of action than pesticides or wrapping burlap around trees, for instance.

"If the trees are healthy, they're going to make it through," Lombard confirmed. "We try to tell foresters to wait two years after any major outbreaks before doing any timber harvesting, and that usually works out pretty well."

Lombard stressed for those who do choose to use pesticides, the safest and most effective often have bacillus thuringiensis (BT) bacteria found naturally in some soil around the world.

Lombard noted spongy moths are an invasive species, brought to the U.S. in the late 1800s through Boston, in an attempt to create a North American moth which could spin silk like silk moths in Asia.

"The moth escaped out of his windows," Lombard recounted. "And 150 years later, we've got hundreds of thousands of acres of defoliated oak trees because this guy left his windows open."


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