They are furry little caterpillars in trees munching on leaves. Some are crawling on the sides of houses or dropping from trees on your head. Northern New York and Vermont are experiencing an infestation of the Gypsy Moth caterpillar and there are so many of the insects that trees are being defoliated across the region. This week the Clinton County Soil and Water Conservation District hosted an informational webinar on the Gypsy Moth infestation.
Although it’s referred to as a Gypsy Moth infestation it’s actually the insect’s larval or caterpillar stage that is doing the damage. During the virtual meeting New York State Department of Environmental Conservation Forest Health Forester and Arborist Rob Cole explained outlined the life cycle and how the caterpillars feeding on leaves can damage trees.
“We are in the later caterpillar stages at this point. But this is when the defoliation occurs," Cole said. "The defoliation becomes noticeable late May, early June and then it hits it peak the last week of June or so. Once those caterpillars reach their largest larval stages they’re eating a lot of leaf material, you know a square foot or more a day. I think we’re moving into those stages now. We’re seeing some of the bigger caterpillars out there and soon within the next couple weeks we should expect to see to see them start to pupate. And then into August is when we’ll start seeing the adults emerge and the adult moth out there.”
Although the current caterpillar numbers will reach peak sometime in the next couple weeks, Cole said such large infestations are cyclical and will probably repeat next spring.
“The outbreak that we’re seeing now probably going to last a couple of years," Cole explained. "That’s typical two to three years for an outbreak. These outbreaks only come around every 10 or 15 years or so. This year severe defoliation going on in three major areas across the state. The first is the eastern Adirondacks from Clinton County all the way south to Schenectady County, basically the Northway corridor along Lake George and Lake Champlain. Oneida and Oswego Counties really spread out and really the Mohawk Valley in its entirety is experiencing very significant defoliation right now as well. And then Finger Lakes area that area of severe defoliation has expanded quite a bit this year.”
Finger Lakes Region DEC senior Forester Gary Koplun detailed the progression of the infestation that began there in 2019. He said places that were impacted last year are again experiencing severe infestations this year.
“What we saw out here I would imagine you’re going to see in your areas as well," Koplun said. "And probably one of the most shocking and I think probably the best thing that I could probably share is that we ran out of arborist support early. And by that I mean the arborists were just so overwhelmed that it became pretty difficult last year for arborists to keep up with clients, potential clients, and it’s even harder this year.”
But DEC Adirondack Region Senior Forester Christi Barber said turning to arborists to help treat trees for pests like the Gypsy Moth caterpillar is problematic in Clinton County.
“There are none in Clinton County," Barber said. "I wanted to try to find someone in Clinton County and there was nobody.”
