OT: Gypsy Moths

[wethyhusky]

It's not

It's not them eating that sounds like rain. It's them s#itting. When I ride my bike I aim for as many as I can.

Ditto for me when running on a bike trail. Squish the little bastards

 

[dbmill]

Last year here in Norwich we had a few gypsy moth caterpillars around but it wasn't that bad. Then sometime last July I was on our lawn tractor mowing the lawn when I noticed there were tons of moths laying their eggs on our trees. I mentioned it to my wife, who immediately ran off to the local Agway to get some spray. It seemed that we would spend at least an hour every weekend into November spraying the eggs that we could see and reach. While we got rid of a boat load of them, there had to be more than enough that we could not see or reach.

I'm thinking that the fungus might be starting to do its thing against the gyspy moth caterpillars. With the drier weather this week I was worried that the infestation we have around our garage would get really bad. However, so far it seems we have far fewer crawling around then we did last week. Hopefully all that wet weather got that fungus growing, and hopefully killing the caterpillars.

 

[Robertelamin]

Interesting. I don't think I've ever seen one and I had never heard of them until last year. There were a ton of dying trees I noticed on route 9 last year but I just assumed they were doomed ash trees.

 

[uconnell]

In the 80's Fairfield cty had an infestation of them, disgusting things. We lived in a heavily treed area and they completely denuded every tree in sight. Fortunately when they died off the leaves grew back.

 

[HuskyHawk]

Yeah, I remember them in the 70's. They were bad last year but this year was supposed to be even worse. When they hit like this they can kill the trees.

My yard is against an oak forest and is surrounded by oaks, but I don't see very many yet, nor did I last year. I sprayed Cutter Backyard Bug control (nasty broad spectrum stuff) for mosquitoes and ticks, but I think it may kill these too, at least before they mature. There is a specialty product you can apply as well, but Lowes and Home Depot don't sell it.

 

[dbmill]

Interesting. I don't think I've ever seen one and I had never heard of them until last year. There were a ton of dying trees I noticed on route 9 last year but I just assumed they were doomed ash trees.

If you were in Connecticut in the late 70's/early 80's it would have been almost impossible not to have seen them. While not at UConn I lived in Bethel at the time. Absolutely horrible outbreak, you just didn't want to go outside. It was impossible to avoid them and the ugly mess they created. These caterpillars have been around in much smaller numbers since, but the drought of the last few years allowed the population to really explode again.

 

[gtcam]

I was mountain biking at Case Mt. in Manchester on Sunday and the ground is covered with chewed leaves. It looks almost like fall. Their crap hitting the ground also sounded like rain falling. My Jeep was parked under a tree and was full of it when I got done riding.

I live in Manchester and haven't seen one (knock on wood)
My daughter lives about 1/2 mile from Case Mtn and nothing either
Its weird but Case Mountain can have them
I remember burning the nests at my parents house in Coventry in the 80s

 

[Dove]

I live in Manchester and haven't seen one (knock on wood)
My daughter lives about 1/2 mile from Case Mtn and nothing either
Its weird but Case Mountain can have them
I remember burning the nests at my parents house in Coventry in the 80s

Are you thinking of tent caterpillars? Different species.

 

[gtcam]

Are you thinking of tent caterpillars? Different species.

gotcha
thnks

 

[Dream Jobbed 2.0]

I live in Manchester and haven't seen one (knock on wood)
My daughter lives about 1/2 mile from Case Mtn and nothing either
Its weird but Case Mountain can have them
I remember burning the nests at my parents house in Coventry in the 80s

Me too. Not too far from Case but on the other side of East Center. I'm a little surprised I've avoided them but not complaining.

 

[John]

Are you thinking of tent caterpillars? Different species.

so the caterpillars we are talking about are not the ones that build the web tents in trees? Last night I got home from work and looked up into my trees, they look like swiss cheese. Small holes, but they are all over the place.

 

[Dove]

so the caterpillars we are talking about are not the ones that build the web tents in trees? Last night I got home from work and looked up into my trees, they look like swiss cheese. Small holes, but they are all over the place.

Those webby tents are tent caterpillars. I remember neighbors burning them in the 70s. There are tons more gypsys and are ravaging the foliage. They hatch from egg masses on tree bark.

 

[HuskyHawk]

Are you thinking of tent caterpillars? Different species.

By the way, there's an easy way to handle tent caterpillars. Hornet and Wasp spray. The kind that shoots 25-30 feet. Target the nests and you can wipe them out. Some may be too high to reach, but you can get most of them.

 

[Dream Jobbed 2.0]

I have a problem with those nasty little pincher bugs in my mudroom. Does any one know of one those "bug barrier" house sprays which actually works? I've sprayed the house inside and out twice since the fall and still find a decent amount of these pincher bugs.

 

[AreBee1969]

Me too. Not too far from Case but on the other side of East Center. I'm a little surprised I've avoided them but not complaining.

Case was brutal yesterday. The damp ground activated the crap into a glue like substance that picked up all the chewed-up leaves and it was impossible to clear our tires. The canopy took on the appearance of spring because of the amount of sunlight that came. They're starting to eat the pine trees now.

 

[The Funster]

In the 80's Fairfield cty had an infestation of them, disgusting things. We lived in a heavily treed area and they completely denuded every tree in sight. Fortunately when they died off the leaves grew back.

I can remember driving down treelined streets and the windshield would get covered with splatters from the little bastards