The outlook for the gypsy moth problem in Quinte West is not excellent as of now.
At Monday’s Quinte West council meeting, council heard the results of a detailed study conducted by BioForest of the damage projected to be caused by the moths in 2022.
The study, according to Isaac Baik of BioForest, focused on a survey of 155 plots during which they identified the number, age and quality of egg masses.
Baik said that their studies indicated the situation is severe.
“As you can see, based on the map, the vast majority of the plots have a severe defoliation forecast. So, 78% of the plots you can expect to see pretty bad defoliation in 2022. If you look down at the Trenton area where all the little green dots are you can see that that’s one area where we didn’t see too much gypsy moth activity but, overall, we’re expecting to see pretty widespread, severe defoliation next spring.”
He also said that, based on the survey’s data regarding the egg masses they found, it doesn’t appear that the population of gypsy moths will be slowing down or declining due to natural causes any time soon.
In terms of solutions, Baik said that the best way is to conduct aerial spraying of private and public property.
Though he said that the rate used in the estimate is one generally graded for bigger municipalities and that their estimation of the amount of land that would need spraying is likely an overestimation, he said that approximately 8,500 hectares of land would need spraying which would work out to roughly $13 million.
Baik also noted that multiple other municipalities that he had worked with in previous years had opted to spray just municipal properties and recommended that in order to get a better idea, the municipality should continue to conduct egg mass and defoliation surveys in 2022.
His counterpart Allison Craig explained that Bacillus thuringiensis, also called Btk, is a bio-insecticide that is most effective against gyspy moths and that it can be purchased without a licence at stores such as Canadian Tire for personal use.
Btk is safe to both people and animals as it is made of naturally occurring substances.
Councillor Karen Sharpe proposed that the municipality consider ways to work with Quinte West residents on the problem.
“I’d like to see us work with our residents with a bit of a, call it a gypsy moth kit. With more information, maybe some Btk, some burlap, the tape, how we can work together with the egg masses, because there’s things we could be doing now even in the winter with regard to egg masses, and help our local residents and maybe work with private sector in terms of purchasing the Btk, but I do think we need to do something and work with our community this year.”
The item was not a decision item so the presentation was simply received.
To visit the City of Quinte West’s gypsy moth information page, click here.
