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Gypsy moth eradication treatments end in Seattle, Bellevue; summer trapping begins

OLYMPIA – The Washington State Department of Agriculture (WSDA) has completed its 2006 gypsy moth eradication treatments in Bellevue and Seattle. The last of four ground-based treatments in the Rosemont neighborhood in Bellevue was conducted May 24, and the final of three aerial treatments in the Madison area of Seattle was completed May 16.

The state Department of Agriculture will now place 250 small, tent-shaped cardboard traps each in Madison and Rosemont areas to determine if any gypsy moth caterpillars escaped the treatments. The traps will be hung beginning in June, checked every two to three weeks during the summer, and taken down in September. If no moths are detected this summer and the summer of 2007, the treatments just completed will be declared a success.

The traps in Madison and Rosemont are part of the WSDA’s annual gypsy moth summer trapping program. Statewide, approximately 24,000 traps will be placed on trees beginning in June. The purpose of summer trapping is to determine if new introductions of gypsy moth have occurred. Some 30 trappers will hang and check the traps.

The gypsy moth is one of the most destructive forest pest insects ever brought into the U.S. Washington gets introductions of gypsy moth every year, but a permanent population has never been established because of WSDA’s aggressive summer trapping and spring eradication programs.

For more information on the state’s gypsy moth control program, call the state Department of Agriculture’s toll-free hotline at 1-800-443-6684, or visit the agency’s Web site at http://agr.wa.gov/PlantsInsects/InsectPests/ and click on “Gypsy Moth.”

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