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Gypsy moth eradication treatments end in Kent, summer trapping begins

OLYMPIA – The Washington State Department of Agriculture (WSDA) has completed its 2007 gypsy moth eradication treatment in Kent. The last of three applications was conducted on May 16.

The state Department of Agriculture will now place approximately 250 small, tent-shaped cardboard traps in and around the Kent treatment zone 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 2008, the treatment just completed will be declared a success.

The Kent traps are part of the WSDA’s annual gypsy moth summer trapping program. Statewide, WSDA will place approximately 25,000 traps in the field beginning in June. The purpose of the traps is to determine if new introductions of gypsy moth have occurred. Some 29 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.

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