Re: gypsy moths

**"* B* <l*@msn.com>**

Renee,

Hi!

I attended an update a few weeks ago given by the Ct Ag Station on the wooly adelgid work in progress and they are still feverishly trying to get it under control.  

The most promising solution on the horizon is a beetle from Japan but its reproductive cycle is slower than needed for large quantities, especially with our cold temps.  In the meantime, they're also working on soil drenches with highly diluted solutions of imidacloprid (I know, not the best approach) that may also be a lower toxic treatment to get the adults before they mate and their larvae bore into the stems of the hemlocks.  All is still in the experimentation stages, but it sounded like they're getting closer.

Best,
Lorraine 

Lorraine Ballato 
16 Mudry Farm Rd 
Brookfield CT 06804 
(203)740-8636

  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: Renee Beaulieu<r*@gmail.com> 
  To: gardenwriters@lists.ibiblio.org<g*@lists.ibiblio.org> 
  Sent: Friday, March 28, 2008 5:03 PM
  Subject: Re: [GWL] gypsy moths

  I can still remember the sound of tens of thousands of gypsy moths
  chewing -- and defecating -- during an infestation in Connecticut in
  1970. The Connecticut River valley looked like January in June, with
  oaks and maples defoliated. The moth population stayed high for a
  couple of years, then fell, eventually returned, and the cycle
  continued. A fungus that preys specifically on gypsy moths was
  imported and released in Connecticut decades ago, but never "took."
  Somehow, though, enough spores remained that when we had an
  exceptionally wet May one year, the fungus population exploded and
  brought the gypsy moths under control. I don't believe we've had
  another devastating outbreak since.  Enough gypsy moths remain to feed
  the predators, but they stay manageable

  The Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station has done a lot of work
  on beneficials -- they were working on a control for the hemlock
  woolly adelgid a few years back. But establishing a sufficient
  predator population takes more time and work (and money) than
  spraying. When the public demands instant results, that's what they're
  likely to get, even if it's not the most effective long-term method.

  Renée Beaulieu
  2882 Erie Avenue
  Cincinnati, OH 45208
  renee.beaulieu@gmail.com<r*@gmail.com>

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