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6-26-2003 |
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114,225 ACRES IN SOUTHERN WEST VIRGINIA TREATED FOR GYPSY MOTH Agriculture Commissioner Gus R. Douglass announced today that the West Virginia Department of Agriculture (WVDA) and the U.S. Department of Agriculture-Forest Service completed treating 114,225 acres of federal, state and private lands in West Virginia with pheromone flakes for low-level gypsy moth infestations under the Slow the Spread (STS) Program. The treated land occurs in four blocks in McDowell, Mercer, Raleigh, Summers and Wyoming Counties. In addition, treatments were completed on the 2,681 acre Mercer County block on East River Mountain that is part of a larger block in Virginia. The project operated out of the Mercer County Airport at Bluefield, West Virginia from June 23 through June 25. Treatment consisted of pheromone flakes aerially applied by agricultural spray planes. The tiny flakes (1/32" X 3/32") are impregnated with a pheromone that is a sex attractant for male gypsy moths. The attractant is specific for gypsy moth and affects no other insects. Pheromone flakes act to disrupt gypsy moth mating by confusing the male gypsy moths. This results in a reduction in the spread rate of the gypsy moth. For more information on the STS Gypsy Moth Treatment Program, contact Dr. Charles Coffman, Director, or S. Clark Haynes, Assistant Director, WVDA Plant Industries Division in Charleston at 304/558-2212. |
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