GYPSY MOTH DETECTED IN MENDOCINO COUNTY

GYPSY MOTH DETECTED IN MENDOCINO COUNTY
The Department of Agriculture recently detected the serious insect pest Gypsy Moth (Lymantria dispar) in the Anderson Valley area of Mendocino County. The Department’s Pest Detection trapping program, which traps annually on a county-wide basis for five (5) different kinds of serious insect pests, first picked up a suspect moth during the normal servicing of the traps on Thursday, July 21, 2016. The suspect moth was sent overnight to the California Department of Agriculture (CDFA) entomology lab for identification. Positive identification was received late Friday afternoon. Starting the following Monday morning July 25, the department’s insect trappers and staff Biologists deployed a high density of Gypsy Moth traps in the four (4) square miles immediately adjacent to the find. In addition, the new replacement trap that had been placed at the initial find site on Thursday July 21 was checked and a second suspect moth was detected. Positive confirmation was received from CDFA for this suspect moth on Tuesday, July 26. All of the traps were checked on Tuesday, July 21, with no additional suspect moths being detected. As of July 27, the total number of high density traps that are required to be deployed in response to a find of this nature have been deployed and will be checked daily through Friday, July 29. The traps will be examined on a weekly basis till the end of September 2016, at which point all the traps will be removed for the season, as the moth’s life cycle will have been fully completed for this year. The department will continue to monitor the traps and provide updates if significant events unfold related to these initial finds.
The Gypsy Moth is a serious insect pest of hardwood forests, shade trees and shurbs. The feeding of the larval (caterpillar) stages of the moth does serious damage to host species by causing defoliation of the host and seriously weakening or killing it. A very informative European Gypsy Moth Fact Sheet can be found at the following CDFA webpage: www.cdfa.ca.gov/plant/gypsymoth/.
For more information, please contact the Agricultural Commissioner’s Office at (707) 234-6830.