THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT 
              Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: Saturday, July 16, 1994                TAG: 9407160233
SECTION: LOCAL                    PAGE: B4   EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA 
SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS 
DATELINE: RALEIGH                            LENGTH: Short :   30 lines

CHEMICAL ASSAULT ON GYPSY MOTHS SEEMS A SUCCESS

A $2 million chemical assault launched this spring to eradicate Asian gypsy moths from Brunswick and New Hanover counties appears to have contained the insects, the state Department of Agriculture said Friday.

Thousands of traps placed in a 1,600 square-mile area have helped scientists capture eight of the leaf-eating moths, but all were found outside the 130,000 acres sprayed in April, officials said.

``It's good to see hard work and cooperation paying off,'' state Agriculture Commissioner Jim Graham said. ``We've doing everything we can to keep this pest in check.''

It's been a year since the leaf-munching gypsy moths - including two strains never before introduced to the United States - arrived aboard ships at Sunny Point Military Ocean Terminal near Southport.

Gypsy moths annually defoliate millions of trees in other parts of the country. But the latest arrivals have been called a national threat because they can fly farther than others. by CNB