# Winter moths threaten defoliation of trees in New England this spring. Any thoughts?



## jahsteve (Mar 9, 2012)

Winter moths threaten significant defoliation of trees in New England this spring- The New Haven Register - Serving New Haven, Connecticut

BOSTON — Forestry officials are warning of significant tree defoliation in Massachusetts this spring, caused by the invasive winter moth.

Federal and state officials say a heavy and widespread moth flight in the state in November and December means more defoliation over a larger area.

The defoliation is caused when the wingless females climb up the trunks of hardwoods such as maples and oaks and lay eggs. The green inchworm larvae then do the damage, stripping leaves to their skeletons and damaging the trees. They start feeding as soon the trees start to bud.

Winter moths defoliated about 80,000 forested acres in Massachusetts last year, mostly in the eastern part of the state. Winter moths have also been detected in Rhode Island, southern New Hampshire and eastern Connecticut.


pretty interesting... at least to me.


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## sgreanbeans (Mar 10, 2012)

jahsteve said:


> Winter moths threaten significant defoliation of trees in New England this spring- The New Haven Register - Serving New Haven, Connecticut
> 
> BOSTON — Forestry officials are warning of significant tree defoliation in Massachusetts this spring, caused by the invasive winter moth.
> 
> ...



Keep them there!


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## Sagetown (Mar 10, 2012)

sgreanbeans said:


> Keep them there!



So that's what they're called, 'winter moths'. I've seen those little inch worms on oaks here in Oklahoma.


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## kr5258 (Mar 10, 2012)

More info:

Winter Moth - Operophtera brumata

http://extension.umass.edu/landscape/fact-sheets/winter-moth-identification-management


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## mcfly (Mar 11, 2012)

They're terrible here. I had the trees around my house sprayed last year and it was well worth it.

I couple years ago at New England Grows Dr. Bob Childs spoke about them. They were working on some type of fly that was a natural predator to the winter moth. Last I read the results were positive. Not sure where that's at now.


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## sweetjetskier (Mar 12, 2012)

Here is a link from a seminar on winter moths last December in Old Saybrook CT.

The seminar was sponsored by the CTPA.

http://ctpa.org/Winter moth 2011 [Compatibility%20Mode].pdf


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## kr5258 (Mar 12, 2012)

mcfly said:


> They're terrible here. I had the trees around my house sprayed last year and it was well worth it.
> 
> I couple years ago at New England Grows Dr. Bob Childs spoke about them. They were working on some type of fly that was a natural predator to the winter moth. Last I read the results were positive. Not sure where that's at now.



Parasitic fly update: UMass Amherst Office of News & Information : News Releases : UMass Amherst Entomologists Begin to Control Winter Moth Infestation in Eastern Massachusetts


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