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Apr 28, 2008 6:51 pm US/Eastern
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Md. Fights Back Against Gypsy Moth Caterpillars
BALTIMORE (WJZ) ―
A very hungry tide is stirring right now in Maryland backyards and woods. Millions of gypsy moth caterpillars are emerging in a major infestation that could kill thousands of trees.
Alex DeMetrick reports on what Maryland is doing to fight back.
Last year, gypsy moth caterpillars were bad. This year, they could be worse.
"In one egg mass, a thousand eggs can hatch. We've seen trees with hundreds of egg masses," said Assistant Secretary of Agriculture Mary Ellen Setting.
That's more than enough to strip every leaf off a tree, as they did last spring in parts of northern Baltimore County.
A second attack this spring will be enough to kill off trees damaged last year. So beginning this week, Maryland is starting an aerial assault on the gypsy moths, spraying insecticide on the tops of trees where the caterpillars feed first.
While insecticide won't stop the onslaught everywhere, it should be enough to save more than $60 million worth of Maryland trees.
Since gypsy moths first invaded the state in 1980, more than one million trees in Maryland have been defoliated.
Total acreage MDA will treat this year is: Allegany (12,136 acres), Anne Arundel (878), Baltimore (3,374), Carroll (1,698), Cecil (5,927), Frederick (19,094), Garrett (32,253), Harford (2,898), Howard (1,465), Montgomery (1,205), Talbot (38), Washington (17,662), and Worcester (399) counties and Baltimore City (191).
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