The rain in activated a native soil fungus that reduces the gypsy moth population. But, Massachusetts trees won't experience the extreme rate of leaf loss they have in past years. Gypsy moth caterpillars partially or entirely strip trees of their leaves. They prefer oaks, especially white and chestnut. Then, because the tree is weak from the loss of its leaves, it becomes vulnerable to other problems.
The year of the drought, we lost a lot of trees or they were under stress," said the manager of Hartney Greymont , a Davey company in this Wicked Local Dedham story. About Cookies on this site Davey uses cookies to make your experience a great one by providing us analytics so we can offer you the most relevant content.
Topics Moth problems pest protection tree insects. As gypsy moths strip trees of their leaves, trees become weak and susceptible to other injuries. Soon after, the first gypsy moth outbreak was around How many gypsy moths are expected in Massachusetts in ? What's the life cycle of the gypsy moth? Gypsy moths go through four stages. Adult moths lay eggs toward the end of summer. The following spring, usually around late April or early May, young caterpillars emerge.
After eating your trees for about a month, the caterpillars rest in their pupal cases. Sometime during July or August, they emerge as white or brown-winged moths. They get ready to lay eggs, which starts the whole process over!
Each life stage looks and behaves very differently from the other stages. Eggs and pupae appear lifeless, but undergo dramatic changes internally. Larvae eat and accumulate fat that is used when they are adults to find a mate and reproduce. Eggs are laid in August and the embryo immediately starts developing during the warm days of summer.
In a month, the tiny larva is fully formed and ready to hatch. At this point, however, the larva goes into diapause, shutting down metabolic activities and becoming insensitive to cold. In suspended animation, the larva passes the winter within the egg. As temperatures increase in early spring, the larva inside the egg slowly becomes more active. In mid-May, just as the leaves of trees are expanding, the larva chews through the egg shell and hatches. Before starting to feed, larvae, or caterpillars as they are commonly known, disperse throughout the forest in a behavior called ballooning.
The larva climbs to the top of the tree on which it hatched, and dangles in the air on a silk thread. When a breeze catches the larva, the thread breaks and it is carried on the wind for up to yards. Once the larva has finished ballooning, it begins to feed. It will eat for five to six weeks depending on its sex. Females feed for an extra week to put on the fat necessary to produce eggs. About once a week the larva will grow too large for its exoskeleton and it will molt.
The leftover exoskeletons can aggravate allergies in some people. The molts separate the larval period into five or six stages, called instars. Early in larval development, instars one through three, larvae feed during the day. Once they reach the fourth instar, however, they start to feed at night and climb down to hide under rough bark or in leaf litter during the day, possibly to avoid being eaten by birds.
Egg masses are laid near the spot where the female pupated and are usually found on tree trunks or branches. Egg masses can also be laid on many other outdoor items including firewood, lawn furniture and in wheel wells or under the bumper of vehicles. Transporting even a single egg mass to an area where Lymantria dispar is not established can start a new Lymantria dispar infestation. Because of the risk posed by egg masses, a federal quarantine in the United States regulates movement of nursery trees, Christmas trees, logs and related items from infested to uninfested states where Lymantria dispar is not established.
Home Invasives Lymantria Dispar. Egg mass with hatching first instar larvae. Lymantria dispar caterpillar dangling on silk thread. Lymantria dispar larva near cast skin.
Late instar Lymantria dispar larva. Photo by Jon Yuschock, Bugwood. Late instar Lymantria dispar larvae on planters. Early instars feeding on leaves. Lymantria dispar larva on leaf with feeding damage. Defoliated trees at intersection. Visible Lymantria dispar defoliation. Male and female cocoons. Male moths are brown with dark markings and use their antennae to track the pheromone produced by female moths. Female Lymantria dispar laying egg mass on a small tree.
Egg masses with a quarter. Female moth laying an egg mass near a cocoon. Read about the IPM Program.
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