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Tennessee: Forestry officials on alert for voracious gypsy moths

By: Anne Braly
(Contact)

Included in this article

Robert Kirksey

Beth Elliott peers into a small red box nailed to a massive walnut tree off Kamin Road in Hixson.

“Nope, the trap’s clean. That’s what I was hoping to find,” said Ms. Elliott, who works with the gypsy moth program for the Tennessee Department of Agriculture.

Her elusive enemy: The male gypsy moth.

But Ms. Elliott, who lives in Lookout Mountain, Ga., has miles to go between now and the end of August before she is assured that Hamilton County is free of the destructive pest.

So far, gypsy moths have destroyed more than 70 million acres of hardwood forests in the Northeast, according to figures from the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Last year, 68 moths were caught in traps placed in counties throughout Tennessee, mostly in the northeast and, for the first time, one was caught in Hamilton County — behind Hixson High School.

“I remember when Beth came and told us about it,” said Margie McGuffee, owner of the property. “Hopefully, it was just an isolated thing.”

Just to make sure, 21 traps were nailed to trees around the area this year. So far, no moths have been found. Experts, however, caution that the moths are moving this way.

Gypsy moths were introduced in the United States in the 1800s by someone in New York who thought they’d make a good replacement for silk worms, said John Kirksey, protection unit leader for the USDA Division of Forestry. A few moths escaped and their tree-destroying binge began.

“In Asia, where they’re from, they have natural predators,” Mr. Kirksey said. “Here, they don’t, and they have an ideal food source: hardwood trees found throughout the North and Southeast.”

Their tree of choice: Oak.

Clint Strohmeier, forest health specialist for the forestry division, said plentiful oak forests in Tennessee could be threatened.

“Oak is important to the state because it is a main species,” he said. “Oak produces good, valuable lumber. And ... it’s important recreationally. Nobody wants to go out to a defoliated forest.”

That’s what the gypsy moth does. Shortly after the eggs hatch, larvae devour leaves on the tree in which the eggs were laid. Mr. Strohmeier said one gypsy mouth larva is capable of eating a square meter of foliage.

Damage occurs year after year, Mr. Kirksey said.

“One summer they eat the leaves and the insect goes into the adult stage. Then the tree refoliates, and if the insect lays its eggs in the same tree, the leaves will again be eaten,” he said. “After a few summers of this, the tree will be weakened to the point that it will die.”

Add drought and heat to the stress of the trees and the situation worsens, Mr. Kirksey said.

The gypsy moth can move quickly because it is an opportunistic hitchhiker. Some moths will lay egg sacks on car bumpers or on the bodies of recreational vehicles. Vehicles heading south bring along the moths, which reproduce in mass numbers and spread quickly, Mr. Kirksey said.

“We often find outbreaks where there is some link to the Northeast,” he said.

The most recent gypsy moth outbreak of significance affected about 117 acres in Campbell County on the Tennessee/Kentucky border in 2001.

“We treated it aggressively with a naturally occurring bacteria that kills the caterpillars at a specific stage in their growth,” Mr. Kirksey said. “Timing is critical.”

Between now and the end of August, trappers will check traps in Hamilton County for adult male gypsy moths. The trap has a sticky pheromone strip that, to a male moth, smells like a female. If a suspected moth is found, the trap is sent to a USDA lab for positive identification.

Mr. Strohmeier said there is no pattern to moth catches so far.

“Ninety percent of the catches we get one year, we don’t see anything the following season,” he said.

That’s the kind of news Mrs. McGuffee likes to hear. The small red traps adorning her trees are no bother.

“I’m for anything that helps the situation get better and will help future generations,” she said.

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