City puts bullseye on forest tent caterpillars

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This article was published 28/05/2015 (4091 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

City crews will beginning spraying trees in the north part of the city on Sunday to combat forest tent caterpillars.

Ken Nawolsky, Winnipeg’s superintendent of insect control, said the $100,000 effort will target the neighbourhoods of Margaret Park,Templeton and Garden City, where the infestation is most severe, and then move onto adjacent neighbourhoods.

Nawolsky said the forest tent moth is very mobile, travelling about 160-320 kilometres per season.

Last year, the Interlake was hit with the infestation, he said, adding the city wants to curtail the spread for next season.

“Next year, we expect them to be throughout all parts of the city,” Nawolsky said.

The forest tent caterpillar chews on tree leaves, with the tell-tale “shot-hole” appearance.

Nawolsky said the damage is unsightly but not fatal to trees, as leaves will re-emerge three weeks later. However, he said the loss of leaves does stress a tree and makes it more susceptible to disease and other insects in future years.

The forest tent caterpillar infestation hits in cycles, every 12-15 years, Nawolsky said. The last infestation in Winnipeg was 2002.

The city will spray boulevard trees with a biological, organic product — Bacillus thuringiensis var. kurstaki, commonly referred to as Btk.

The forest tent caterpillars eat the Btk, lose their appetite for the leaves and die two to three days later, he said.

Homeowners can spray their own trees, Nawolsky said, adding the spray is sold at most home and garden centres.

Homeowners can apply to exempt their property from spraying by contacting 311. There is a 30-metre buffer zone.

On the mosquito front, Nawolsky said the city completed its first round of larviciding 10 days ago.

Mosquitos should begin emerging next week, he said, but predicts it won’t be in such large numbers as was encountered last year.

 

aldo.santin@freepress.mb.ca