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Agriculture Commissioner Gus R. Douglass has announced that the West Virginia Department of Agriculture (WVDA) and USDA Forest Service completed treating 6,930 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 occurred in a single block in southern McDowell County and was part of a much larger block in Virginia.

The project began operations on June 22, out of the airport at Tazewell, Virginia, and completed operations on June 23. Treatment consisted of pheromone flakes aerially applied by agricultural spray planes. Tiny flakes (1/32”x3/32”) 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 WVDA Plant Industries Division Director Gary Gibson or S. Clark Haynes, Assistant Director, in Charleston at 304/558-2212.

The West Virginia Department of Agriculture protects plant, animal and human health through a variety of scientific, regulatory and consumer protection programs, as mandated by state law. The Commissioner of Agriculture is one of six statewide elected officials in West Virginia. Currently, Commissioner Gus R. Douglass is the longest-serving agriculture commissioner in the nation. For more information, visit www.wvagriculture.org.

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