Fall Gypsy Moth Monitoring To Be Done Mid-September to Early January 

 

 

Contact: Bay County Gypsy Moth Suppression Program, Alicia Wallace or Jeremy Lowell

Phone: (989) 895-4195 Email: gypsymoth@baycounty.net

The Gypsy Moth Suppression Program will conduct its 2020 fall egg mass monitoring to determine what areas of Bay County will need treatment to control growing Gypsy Moth populations. Over the next few months, program staff will visit several wooded areas throughout Bay County to count the tan to chocolate brown colored egg masses to detect areas where the Gypsy Moth population has potential to reach the highest levels in the spring. If you have noticed Gypsy Moth egg masses on your property (as pictured above), feeding Gypsy Moth Caterpillars in your trees this past spring, or defoliation in the tops of your oak trees in early summer; or you would like your property checked for signs of Gypsy Moth, please call the Gypsy Moth Suppression Program at 989-895-4195.

If you find any egg masses on your trees, please leave them in place so we can get an accurate count. The program needs to find a minimum of 300 egg masses per acre for any given property to qualify for treatment.

Over the years, program staff has inventoried the woodlots which have the highest preferred food sources for Gypsy Moth, and where the Gypsy Moth population is most likely to cause problems for landowners based on historical findings and data. This fall we plan on monitoring over 400 of these documented wooded sites throughout Bay County to determine where the Gypsy Moth population is currently rising.

Bay County Gypsy Moth Suppression Program is a division of the Bay County Environmental Affairs and Community Development Department. Program Coordinator Alicia Wallace can be reached at (989-895-4195) for more information about aerial Gypsy Moth treatment operations.