Tag: gypsy moth

Slowing Gypsy Moth Spread

The government concedes it can’t get rid of a pest that’s been killing
trees. But it has a program that’s slowing its spread. Fred Kight
reports federal and state officials are using a pesticide on the tree-
killing gypsy moth in 10 states:

Transcript

The government concedes it can’t get rid of a pest that’s been killing
trees. But it has a program that’s slowing its spread. Fred Kight
reports federal and state officials are using a pesticide on the tree-
killing gypsy moth in 10 states:


The Slow the Spread Project is run by the US Forest Service and Donna
Leonard is the program manager. She says they focus on hindering the
gypsy moth’s advance into new territory:


“…And for the past five or six years, we’ve been holding spread at
about two to three miles per year, compared to 13 miles per year, which
is the rate it was spreading before we started.”


The tactic employed against the gypsy moth in the spring is aerial
spraying of pesticide, and for the most part they use a naturally
occurring soil bacteria commonly referred to as BTK.


A Sierra Club activist says BTK is far preferable to synthetic
pesticides but it can be a problem because it can kill other bugs, too.


For the Environment Report, I’m Fred Kight.

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BETTER USES FOR Bt INSECTICIDE?

A discovery about a naturally occurring insecticide could allow that bug-killer to be better used by farmers and growers.
Chuck Quirmbach reports:

Transcript

A discovery about a naturally occurring insecticide could
allow that bug-killer to be better used by farmers and growers. Chuck
Quirmbach reports:


The bacterium known as Bt produces a toxin that has long
been used to control some insect pests. Researchers at the University
of Wisconsin-Madison have found the ability of Bt to kill gypsy moth
caterpillars is helped by the bacteria that are found in the guts of
the insect.


Graduate student Nichole Broderick is the lead author of
the study, which is published in the Proceedings of the National
Academy of Sciences. Broderick says knowledge of how Bt kills
caterpillars could lead to better use of Bt in the environment.


“It would be useful in terms of improving the effectiveness in field
applications and making perhaps methods of control more specific to
the pest that you’re going after.”


That could help target the nasty insects without harming the beneficial
ones.


For the Environment Report, I’m Chuck Quirmbach.

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Gypsy Moth Continues Its Destruction

The Gypsy Moth caterpillar cut a wide-swath of destruction through some midwestern states this year. The caterpillar has been called one of the most destructive hardwood forest insect pests in the U.S. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Natalie Walston reports:

Transcript

The gypsy moth caterpillar cut a wide-swath of destruction through some Great Lakes states this year. The caterpillar has been called one of the most destructive hardwood forest insect pests in the United States. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Natalie Walston reports.


Agriculture officials in Great Lakes states have tried a variety of chemical methods to stop the spread of the gypsy moth. Still, it’s estimated the gypsy moth caterpillar destroyed a record forty-two thousand acres of trees in Ohio alone this year. The Ohio Department of Agriculture says that number has doubled from last year. Agriculture officials in New York State say the gypsy moth caterpillar feasted on fifty thousand trees this year. That’s compared to twenty-seven thousand last year. But, the state of Michigan got a break. Michigan Department of Natural Resources entomologist, Frank Sapio says the insects died from a virus before they could destroy trees, and he says the DNR released a natural fungus that worked with the virus to kill the caterpillars. Last year, though, the caterpillars were blamed for eating ninety-seven thousand acres of tree leaves in Michigan.


For the Great Lakes Radio Consortium, I’m Natalie Walston.

Tricking the Gypsy Moth

The U-S Forest Service and the Indiana Department of Natural Resources will
be using pheromone treatments to prevent gypsy moths from mating in wooded
areas along the Lake Michigan shoreline. The effort is aimed at protecting
the large concentration of endangered Karner Blue butterflies along the
shoreline. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Len Clark reports: