Gypsy Moths Sucker Punch Massachusetts: Biggest Outbreak Since 1981

Many of us surely remember the gypsy moth outbreak of the early '80s. It was like a horror movie. If you had trees on your property, it was nearly impossible not to step on hordes of them in their caterpillar stage. Trees everywhere were wrapped in grease-covered aluminum foil to stop the pests from climbing up the trunks.

The moths stormed doorways and ruined cookouts.

Mostly, it was just annoying and...icky.

Everyone's commenting about it again. Why they heck are there so many gypsy moths around?

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The gypsy moth, which has four life stage stages (egg, larva/caterpillar, pupa and adult) is seeing its biggest outbreak in Massachusetts since 1981, according to a report from UMass Amherst's Center for Agriculture, Food and the Environment.

Joe Elkinton, a professor of environmental conservation at UMass Amherst, and an expert on the gypsy moth, told the UMass publication, “I would say almost surely this is the largest outbreak we’ve seen since 1981. This is unprecedented. It’s been 35 years. Defoliation caused by gypsy moth Lymantria dispa has occurred over this summer, in many parts of Massachusetts and the rest of New England.”

The outbreak has reached 1981 levels, particularly in the South Shore areas and Cape Cod, and has been building up for several years, becoming more extensive. Experts such as Elkinton are surprised at the resurgence, reports UMass.

The threat had been wiped out in 1989, a "fungal pathogen of the gypsy moth from Japan became established and decimated gypsy moth populations throughout New England." By 1996, there were virtually no gypsy moth outbreaks in New England. Drought conditions, however, have prevented the fungus that killed the moth, therefore ripening the conditions for it again.

As it stands, 2016 could be the worst year on record, according to the Christian Science Monitor. The gypsy moth larvae have chewed, so far, through 100,000 acres of forest in the state.

E. Leopold Trouvelot brought the gypsy moth to North America with the intention of breeding hybrid silkworms that were hardier than the Chinese species, and he hoped to build a silk industry in the U.S. According to Gypsymothalert.com, by 1865 he had a million caterpillars that fed under netting at his Medford home. In 1869, some of those moths escaped.

Oak and aspen trees are particularly attractive to gypsy months, and according to UMass's report, almost any tree can be defoliated, including pine, during an outbreak.

Methods to control the outbreak include spraying, but the spray would have had to have been applied in early May. But by now, there is little to nothing that can be done to control the pest.

Gypsy Moths are are all fledged - and currently welding themselves to my bug-light. zzzzzzzzzzz zaaaap zzzzzzzzzzzaaaap crackle pop
— Fritz Pennsbury (@Fr8oCorleone) July 8, 2016

Photo via Wikimedia Commons