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"A Family Tradition for 125 Years" Po a oT -- « § wn = : PORT PERRY STAR - Tuesday, August 27, 1991 - 15 Resident researches gypsy moth caterpillars By Julia Dempsey Debra Russell has spent the summer Soing her homework. But the subject wasn't math or history. Her self-appointed project was to uncover as much infor- mation about gypsy moth cater- pillars and how to safely de- stroy the creatures. Mrs. Russell's obsession be- gan this spring when her prop- erty, located along the Oak Ridge Moraine, was hit with a severe gypsy moth caterpillar infestation. "They took over everything," Mrs. Russell said, adding they defoliated all of the 150-year- old oaks on their property with- in a month. The Russells felt like prison- ers being held captive in their own home. The infestation was so bad, the waste dropping from the caterpillars sounded like rain falling on the roof of their home. Despite the droppings, Mrs. Russell ventured outdoors three times a day on a "personal killing spree." She estimates she killed 200 caterpillars a day with a fly swatter. Mrs. Russell found other methods of destroying the cat- erpillars (such as burlap wraps and scraping egg masses from the trees) to be both time con- suming and ineffective. "I'd literally have to train the squirrels to do that (scrape the egg masses)," she said, stating that her trees are about 100 feet tall. Infuriated by what was hap- pening with her trees, Mrs. Russell called local and region- al officials to see what could be done. She was told a Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) spraying program was available through the Ministry of Natural Re- source but the region had missed the deadline for submit- ting applications. The Port Perry Star spoke to Mrs. Russell and other area residents during the peak of the infestation. A subsequent news story prompted many letters to the editor from residents who were both for and against aerial spraying. Her first gut reaction upon reading the letters against spraying was to write a rebut- Ministry of Natural Resources proposing stricter criteria From Page 14 the table for the negotiating com- mittee in the hope that we can reach a reasonable settlement." In negotiations, MNR is also . proposing stricter criteria to limit the area eligible for spraying to reduce the amount of pesticide us- ed in the environment. The new criteria will help to ensure that spraying of bacillus thuringiensis (bt), a bacterial agent and the on- ly insecticide used in the pro- gram, takes place only where the health of the forest is threatened by the feeding of gypsy moth caterpillars. Although feeding by the gypsy moth caterpillar may increase the effect of other stresses on trees, this defoliation rarely kills trees. In the 10-year history of gypsy moth infestation in Ontario, the gypsy moth has not caused significant forest mortality in the opinion of MNR. i Wyre committed Io prve "SUNDERLAND efficiency for fast harvesting When it comes to harvesting, you can't beat the heavy-duty performance that's built into the New Holland Model 790 forage harvester. Performance starts at the cutterhead. The 1911, ¢-inch wide, 12-knife cutterhead delivers a fine uniform chop that's just right for most silage feeding operations. _And an electric clutch gives instant response and positive control on the reversing gearbox. The Model 790 is avail- able with either a 540-rpm or a 1000-rpm PTO drive. Stop in today and trade for the performance leader in harvesters--the 790" from Ford New Holland. MORROW FARM EQUIPMENT LTD. ver 40 Years in Business FORD NEW HOLLAND Farm - Industrial - Lawn & Garden - Sales & Service IMPERIAL OIL PRODUCTS PHONE (705)357-3121 tal, but opted against the idea for fear the letter would be based mainly on emotion with few facts. That's when she decided to learn everything she could about gypsy moth caterpillars - a task that involved gathering information from sources in Canada and the United States. Her sources included the United States Department of the Interior, Abbott Laborato ries (the manufacturers of Bt), the agricultural extension at Penn State University, Pollu- tion Probe, the Ministry of Nat- ural Resources and Shenan- doah National Park in Luray, Virginia. Officials at Shenandoah were extremely helpful. A se- vere infestation took over parts of the park in 1983. Instead of spraying, the park heeded to the environmentalists concerns and decided to allow the situa- tion to run its course, Mrs. Rus- sell said. Five years later, 16,000 acres of the forest had been defoliat- ed. "Depending on the type of tree, it was a loss of 50-75 trees per acre," Mrs. Russell said. A large scale spraying project using three different insecti- cides -- Bt, Gypchek, and Diflu- benzuron -- was initiated in 1989 and the park was able to save a major proportion of their treesin the last three years. Of the three insecticides, Gypchek was found to be the most environmentally desira- ble. It is formulated from cater- pillars that have been infected with a natural gypsy moth vi- rus. But the insecticide has a ma- jor drawback -- it is not pro- ~ duced commercially and is available only in limited quan- tities. Diflubenzuron, a synthetic insect growth regulator, is ef- fective in controlling damage and reducing gypsy moth popu- lations. It works well control- ling moderate and high popula- tion levels and is the least expensive of the three insecti- cides. Its main disadvantage is that it has detrimental effects on certain non-target insects, an- thropos and aquatic inverte- brates. Bt is a bacterial insecticide that attacks the caterpillars di- gestive system. After eating a leaf sprayed with Bt, the cater- pillar will stop eating within 30 minutes to two hours and the caterpillar will die within three to five days. The spray is non-toxic to hu- mans and other warm-blooded mammals, Mrs. Russell said. But the spray does have its drawbacks as well. It can affect other caterpillars other than the gypsy moth and to be effec- tive it must be sprayed early in the season. Here are some other facts Mrs. Russell uncovered while researching the subject. The infestation cycle of the gypsy moth caterpillar is seven to eight years in length and the infestation can have peak sea- sons as well as low seasons. The weather in the spring has a lot to do with the strength of an infestation cycle. The egg masses will not hatch properly in a cool, wet spring, but a hot, dry spring could result in a ma- jor infestation season. Each egg mass has the capa- bility of producing 1,000 cater- Village Garden Centre Boutique 1820 Scugog St., Port perry 985-1054 Located two doors east of Country Style Donuts OPEN 7 DAYS A WEEK Attention local crafts people...We are looking for unique crafts for our "COUNTRY CHRISTMAS" Bring us a sample of your work. Pick up your . information sheet at Village Garden Centre Boutique. pillars. Black-billed and yellow- billed cuckoos, tangers, vireos and orioles are natural preda- tors, but a flock of 10,000 to 15,000 birds would be needed to consume the caterpillarsonone acre of land. She also found out that gypsy moth caterpillars don't kill trees -- instead they die from the stress they undergo trying to reproduce a second set of leaves in the growing season. The second set of leaves will only be one-eighth to one- quarter of the size of the origi- nal leaves, depending on the amount of rain in June and July. Drought and previous de- foliations will also decrease a tree's chance of survival. The caterpillars will defoli- ate oak, birch, willow and ever- green trees, as well as rose bushes, impatiens, hemlocks and hostas. Oak trees are the "food of choice," Mrs. Russell said, add- ing that that is the reason her property and the surrounding area is suffering from the ef- fects of the the gypsy moth cat- erpillar. "For the future, people better think about it as the Ridge Mo- raine. There won't be any oaks to call it the Oak Ridge Mo- raine." She said if an aerial spraying program is not initiated for next spring, the forest "will be only a memory. Our children will inherit our trees that are in a constant state of winter." Mrs. Russell has sent copies of the information she gathered to regional chairman Gary Her- rema, Scugog mayor Howard Hall and Uxbridge mayor Gerri Lynn O'Connor. ALL NURSERY STOCK 5 0 % CIL Lawn Fertilizers High quality imported concrete Bird Baths, Pots & Fountains $ Seasoned Firewood $92 30%" off Tagged Price 99 face cord 9% bush cord Come see our wicker furniture, baskets & shelving 985-1064 We stand behind our bushes - No. 1 Quality | ames nr man mp a cre, ---- pte a) van te