ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Tuesday, July 9, 1996 TAG: 9607090043
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-5 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: CHARLOTTESVILLE
SOURCE: Associated Press
A little-known fungus and favorable weather have limited the amount of damage done to the state's forests by gypsy moths this spring, experts say.
The moth-killing fungus, Entomophaga maimaiga, was introduced in Virginia in 1991 by U.S. Department of Agriculture scientists. Experts said last year's cool, humid spring was ideal for fungus growth.
``The gypsy moth populations are so reduced, we've gotten no reports of widespread defoliation hardly anywhere in areas we normally find it. The gypsy moths are not there,'' said Phil Eggborn, plant and pest services manager for the Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services.
Eggborn said this spring also was cool and wet, but not as moist as 1995. ``Last year, especially, was the year the fungus appeared to do the most damage to the gypsy moth population,'' he said.
Gypsy moths emerge in the spring, then turn from caterpillars into adults before mating in late summer. One female can lay up to 500 eggs.
The fungus spores land on the caterpillars and penetrate their skin with enzymes. The fungus then proliferates inside the caterpillars, killing them in seven to 10 days.
Last spring, the caterpillars stripped the leaves from about 850,000 acres of forests in Virginia, but then apparently began dying from the fungus. Defoliation statistics from this year are still being compiled, but some gypsy moth experts believe fewer than 200,000 acres were damaged.
The gypsy moth was introduced by accident into the United States in 1869 in New England and worked its way down the East Coast, arriving in significant numbers in Virginia in 1984.
The number of acres the moths have stripped of leaves generally has risen steadily since then and included more than 400,000 acres each year since 1990.
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