 |
 |
 |
 |
||
 |
 |
|||
 |
||||
 |
||||
 |
||||
News Release 10-7-2003 |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
GYPSY MOTH CATERPILLARS DEFOLIATE 5,338 ACRES OF STATE AND PRIVATE FORESTLAND IN WEST VIRGINIA Agriculture Commissioner Gus R. Douglass has announced that 5,338 acres of state and private forestland defoliation, caused by the gypsy moth in May and June, were mapped by the West Virginia Department of Agriculture (WVDA) staff this year. WVDA defoliation maps are prepared from aerial survey sketch maps that are then digitized using a geographic information system.
This year’s acreage was a significant decrease from the 132,197 acres defoliated in 2002. The cool, moist conditions that prevailed during May and June were ideal for the development of the gypsy moth fungus, Entomophaga maimaiga, and the gypsy moth nucleopolyhedrosis virus was also observed to be having an impact in outbreak populations. These naturally occurring insect pathogens are the primary reason for the gypsy moth population’s decline in untreated areas. Commissioner Douglass said that 4,270 acres were treated for gypsy moth in the generally infested areas of the state under the Cooperative State-County-Landowner (CSCL) Gypsy Moth Suppression Program this year. Another 1,929 acres qualified for treatment, but landowners either chose not to participate or the land managers chose not to take any action. Additionally, 114,225 acres of federal, state and private land in West Virginia were treated with pheromone flakes for low-level gypsy moth infestations under the Slow the Spread (STS) Program. The treated land occurred in four blocks in McDowell, Mercer, Raleigh, Summers, and Wyoming Counties. Pheromone flakes act to disrupt gypsy moth mating by confusing the male gypsy moths resulting in a reduction in the spread rate of gypsy moths. According to WVDA Plant Industries Division Assistant Director S. Clark Haynes, defoliation occurred in Braxton, Pocahontas, Randolph, Upshur, and Webster Counties. A breakdown of acres defoliated by county appears in the chart below. For more information on the WVDA’s Gypsy Moth Program, contact
Dr. Charles Coffman, Director, or S. Clark Haynes, Assistant Director,
of the WVDA’s Plant Industries Division in Charleston at 304-558-2212
or Butch Sayers, Gypsy Moth Program Manager in New Creek at 304-788-1066. |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
|
©2001, 2002 West Virginia Department of Agriculture, All Rights Reserved |
|
|
Contact the Webmaster
|
|
|
|