THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1997, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, January 26, 1997 TAG: 9701260068
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA
SOURCE: BY JEFFREY S. HAMPTON, CORRESPONDENT
DATELINE: ELIZABETH CITY LENGTH: 89 lines
Government pest control agents, in planning to battle gypsy moth infestations on four sites in northeastern North Carolina, may use biological insecticides in the rare Nags Head Woods tract.
Though biologists are holding their ground in this region, the gypsy moth has spread steadily south and west from New England for decades. In the caterpillar stage, the moths can defoliate large stands of trees, leaving them vulnerable to deadly diseases and pests.
``We could eradicate the gypsy moth from North Carolina, but we have it coming towards us from the north, and we keep having to eradicate it,'' said Bill Wescott, a plant protection and quarantine officer with the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Wescott's office is in Elizabeth City.
Northeastern North Carolina is on the fringes of the gypsy moth's march. Agents from the USDA and the North Carolina Department of Agriculture have resorted to a program called Slow the Spread. States from Michigan to West Virginia to North Carolina will take a more unified approach, combining state and federal resources to establish a unbroken line of defense. The strategy is supposed to slow gypsy moth expansion from more than 12 miles a year to six miles a year. Total eradication is impossible, experts say.
``Our hope is that we can string out a whole line of effort along the front,'' said Lloyd Garcia, an entymologist for the NCDA.
The gypsy moth has defoliated 72 million acres of trees since 1924, doing most of the damage between 1982 and 1992 in northeastern states.
State and federal agents determine moth density by trapping the male moths in small plastic cartons that smell like the female. If there is an infestation, agents normally spray a bacterial insecticide called Bt from the air. The moth is most vulnerable to the treatment while in its caterpillar stage in April.
Infested areas scheduled to be sprayed this spring are in Nixonton, Camden and two sites in Gates County.
Nags Head Woods also is on the list. Some scientists and environmentalists oppose the use of Bt in isolated and rare areas such as Nags Head Woods.
``Bt is relatively harmless to vertebrates but can affect a large variety of moths and butterflies,'' said Steve Hall, invertebrate zoologist with the North Carolina Natural Heritage Program. ``They have a very important role on the ecosystem, and their loss can have a major impact.''
NCDA agents also can spray a viral insecticide called Gypchek that affects only gypsy moths. It is more expensive than Bt.
The NCDA is awaiting permission from the Nature Conservancy to spray Nags Head Woods with Gypchek. The Nature Conservancy and the town of Nags Head own 1,100 acres of the rare maritime forest.
``We're not sure they're going to be able to treat Nags Head Woods this year,'' said Barbara Blonder, steward for the Nature Conservancy's Northeast Coastal Plain. ``Not that we don't want them to treat it, we just have to wait for permission.''
Gypsy moths have been in Nags Head Woods since the mid-1980s, but there have been no treatments yet. One of the valuable species found in the preserve is the southern red oak, a favorite of the gypsy moth.
Wescott said the danger at Nags Head Woods is not so much the damage to its trees, but the probability that the moth will spread to other wooded areas, including parts of Roanoke Island.
More than 9 million acres of woodland have been treated in the United States since 1982 at a cost of $125 million, according to an NCDA news release. Agents used to spray chemical insecticides. In the past decade, biological insecticides have taken their place.
Another promising treatment is a fungus that attaches to and kills gypsy moth caterpillars. The virus thrives naturally in the forest soil.
Wescott and others have been finding gypsy moths in parts of northeastern North Carolina since the 1970s. The first treatment in North Carolina was near Forsyth County in 1974. There have been more than 100 treatments since, according to the NCDA release. In 1988, agents treated infestations in Currituck and Dare counties and declared the areas quarantined.
``Our little infestations here have not built up populations enough to see damage,'' said Wescott. ``If we continue to keep the populations down, we won't ever see serious damage.''
The gypsy moth was imported here from Europe in the 1860s in an effort to breed better silk worms. The moth escaped from a laboratory in Medford, Mass., in 1869.
The gypsy moth gets its name because the larvae hang from tree limbs by silk threads and are blown by the wind. It travels even faster when it hitches a ride with humans.
``Household moves are probably the biggest problem we have,'' said Wescott. ``People from up north move here and bring outdoor furniture and other outdoor equipment where the moths hide. It's the worst thing we have to deal with.''
The male must find the nonflying female to mate. She lays her eggs right where he found her. The male and female die soon after.
The male is about three-quarters of an inch long, is drab brown with dark spots and has furry antennae. The female is heavier and lighter-colored.