FOREST WILDLIFE GETS BREAK FROM CATERPILLAR COLLLAPSE
Heading into this past spring, it appeared stands of oaks on many Pennsylvania Game Commission State Game Lands were going to be hit hard by gypsy moth caterpillars. Limited funding for spraying from state agencies and municipalities had Pennsylvania in a bad way.
The state braced for what was forecasted to be another nasty gypsy moth caterpillar raid on oaks, conifers, hickories and other species in 25 mid-state and northeastern counties. But, the emerging caterpillars were hit by a fungus - Entomophaga maimaiga - a natural enemy, although not native to Pennsylvania; a virus - Lymantria dispar Multienveloped Nuclear Polyhedrosis Virus (NPV) that appeared in America about the same time the gypsy moth did; and a biological insecticide - Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) - sprayed on forestlands by the state Department of Conservation and Natural Resources. The caterpillars, thankfully, didn't have a chance when this triple-threat hit them. That doesn't mean they're gone for good; just that they had to return to the starting block in population building.
"This is a blessing for our habitat managers because it assures them greater control over what happens to forests on State Game Lands," said Carl G. Roe, Game Commission executive director. "It's always our goal to manage State Game Lands on terms favorable to our wildlife. But nature obviously has a big say in what happens. This gypsy moth population collapse will be good for wildlife, good for forests and their managers and good for the folks who utilize forestlands for everything from hunting and trapping, to hiking and birdwatching.
"But as gypsy moths regroup - they always do - they are sure to resurface in the state's woodlands some time in the next five to 10 years. It is a recurring problem Pennsylvania has endured since they arrived here in the 1930s. Just about every one of our State Game Lands has endured them at one time or another."
For more information, please visit the Pennsylvania Game Commission - State Wildlife Management Agency website:
http://www.pgc.state.pa.us/pgc/cwp/view.asp?a=11&Q=176963
