McHenry County Blog

A press release from the Village of Lakewood:

Aerial Spraying of Gypsy Moths in the Village of Lakewood

Spraying for gypsy moths. (And there’s the electric pole attachment that failed.)

Viable gypsy moth egg masses have been found at two locations within the Village.

The locations are near the intersection of Broadway and Cumberland Lane, and near the intersection of Huntley Road and Oakwood Drive.

There are numerous egg masses that cannot be reached using ground based treatment strategies, so the Village will be conducting aerial spraying for gypsy moths at and around the aforementioned locations.

Gypsy moth infested sites will be treated by helicopter with an application of Bacillus thuringiensis kurstaki (B.t.k.), a naturally occurring bacteria used by gardeners as an environmentally friendly alternative to chemical pesticides. B.t.k. is not considered toxic for people, animals, birds, fish, and other insects such as bees and ladybugs. Also, it does not harm water supplies.

As a general precaution, Public Health officials recommend all persons in spray areas minimize exposure to B.t.k.

Signs like this will be appearing in unincorporated areas.

Persons who are more susceptible to infections or respiratory irritation should pay particular attention to the precautions above. This includes people with underlying illness such as leukemia, AIDS or other immune system deficiency, people receiving radiation or chemotherapy treatment, and people with asthma, emphysema or allergic sensitivities.

The initial application is tentatively scheduled to occur next week, but spraying is dependent on weather conditions and larvae development.

A follow-up application will occur 7-10 days after the initial application.

The gypsy moth is a non-native leaf-eating insect that feasts on plants and shrubs. Gypsy moths are among the most destructive forest and landscape pests in the United States.

In large populations, it is capable of stripping plants bare, leaving them vulnerable to secondary insect and disease attacks. Oak trees are the most vulnerable to gypsy moth devastation, but the caterpillars will feed on up to 500 other types of trees and shrubs if oak leaves are scarce.

The Village will post signs in the spray areas the day before aerial spraying.

What county government spent in recent years to spray for gypsy moths.

The McHenry County Board will not spray for gypsy moths this year resulting in a savings of $15,618.35.

Public Information Officer Adam Lehmann provided this additional information:

“The County determined to not fund spraying for gypsy moths this year due to due to budget constraints, relatively few complaints we have received over the last two years, and low trap counts.

Gypsy moth spraying signs like this one put out by McHenry County will not appear this year because of budget cutbacks.

“The County will re-assess after the 2011 season for 2012.”

The Village of Lakewood and the City of Crystal Lake are still going to do some spraying.

Crystal Lake will spent $9.625 for two applications of 125 acres.  The price was $38.50 per acre. Last year Crystal Lake piggy-backed on the county contract.

Coordinating with Crystal Lake, Lakewood is paying the same firm, Hendrickson Flying Service, the same price per acre for the same service on the same days. The bugs will be attacked on 68 acres there.

The following press release from Lakewood explains a bit more of what will happen:

Aerial Spraying of Gypsy Moths in the Village of Lakewood

Gypsy moths have been recently spotted in the Village near Cumberland Lane. The Village of Lakewood, in cooperation with neighboring communities, will be aerial spraying for gypsy moths in the area of the 200 – 300 blocks from Essex Lane to Warwick Lane.

Gypsy moth infested sites will be treated by helicopter with an application of Bacillus thuringiensis kurstaki (B.t.k.), a naturally occurring bacteria used by gardeners as an environmentally friendly alternative to chemical pesticides. B.t.k. is not considered toxic for people, animals, birds, fish, and other insects such as bees and ladybugs. Also, it does not harm water supplies

As a general precaution, Public Health officials recommend all persons in spray areas minimize exposure to B.t.k. Persons who are more susceptible to infections or respiratory irritation should pay particular attention to the precautions above. This includes people with underlying illness such as leukemia, AIDS or other immune system deficiency, people receiving radiation or chemotherapy treatment, and people with asthma, emphysema or allergic sensitivities.

Gypsy moth spraying over Country Club Additions in Lakewood in 2010.

The initial application is tentatively scheduled for late May or early June as spraying is dependent on weather conditions. A follow-up application will occur 7-10 days after the initial application.

The gypsy moth is a non-native leaf-eating insect that feasts on plants and shrubs. Gypsy moths are among the most destructive forest and landscape pests in the United States. In large populations, it is capable of stripping plants bare, leaving them vulnerable to secondary insect and disease attacks. Oak trees are the most vulnerable to gypsy moth devastation, but the caterpillars will feed on up to 500 other types of trees and shrubs if oak leaves are scarce.

The Village will post signs in the spray area the day before aerial spraying.

The warning signs announcing gypsy moth spraying have been all over town for a couple of weeks. Rain prevented the application of the killing beasties until this week of good weather.

People may have (unnecessarily) given up on their ash trees being destroyed by the Emerald Ash Borer, but local government is fighting back against gypsy moths.

Friday morning, this helicopter went up and down Lakewood's Lake Avenue spraying the oak-hickory forest with Bacillus thuringiensis, B.t., for short.

For the second time this week, a helicopter was spaying for gypsy moths over our home in Lakewood.

The first time, I was awaken at 6:33 AM thinking I was under attack. It sounded like the movies about the Vietnam War and I was a Viet Cong.

Half a dozen passes were made.

Today just before nine, the process repeated itself.

I didn’t know we would get a double dose.

My Emerald Ash Borer guy, Wayne White, should be coming to McHenry County in early June to treat the tree above out bedroom.

It was flying so low over Lake Avenue while I was cutting the grass behind our day lilies that it almost spooked me.

It was the helicopter spraying for gypsy moths.

I decided it was time to go inside and shut the bedroom windows.

Hard to tell what the residue would be.

Crystal Lake’s warning signs were up first.

I saw Lakewood’s next.

On the way back from swim practice at McHenry’s West High School pool, I saw this one on Walkup at Crystal Springs Road.

You will notice it warns of May spraying.

I guess this June day was the first one without rain or a wind to high to allow for effective spraying.

I sent the photo of the caterpillars that the Pack 158 Cub Scouts were collecting at the Hollows this past weekend and got back good news from the McHenry County Conservation District.

They are not gypsy moths.

Here is the reply from the MCCD’s Sue Hayden:

“Your picture is not that of gypsy moths.

I’d have to get a better look at them to see for sure what they are. I suspect they are mourning cloak butterflies.

“Attached is a picture of a gypsy moth larvae. Note the double row of bumps; the first 6-8 blue and the rest red.

“Also, gypsies do not make the “tents” that are so prevalent this year. Those are appropriately named tent caterpillars and although unattractive are not deadly for the trees.”

= = = = =
A gypsy moth caterpillar appears on the top right.

You can see some of the tents constructed by the the caterpillars the Cub Scouts were collected at the left.

I sent the photo of the caterpillars that the Pack 158 Cub Scouts were collecting at the Hollows this past weekend and got back good news from the McHenry County Conservation District.

They are not gypsy moths.

Here is the reply from the MCCD’s Sue Hayden:

“Your picture is not that of gypsy moths.

I’d have to get a better look at them to see for sure what they are. I suspect they are mourning cloak butterflies.

“Attached is a picture of a gypsy moth larvae. Note the double row of bumps; the first 6-8 blue and the rest red.

“Also, gypsies do not make the “tents” that are so prevalent this year. Those are appropriately named tent caterpillars and although unattractive are not deadly for the trees.”

= = = = =
A gypsy moth caterpillar appears on the top right.

You can see some of the tents constructed by the the caterpillars the Cub Scouts were collected at the left.

If you have been in Crystal Lake, you may have seen signs warning that gypsy moth spraying would be taking place this week.

It certainly was too windy on Tuesday.

While still windy, it apparently was calm enough for sparying.

While I was at the outdoor chapel at the First United Methodist Church of Crystal Lake (not helping as much as I was able to Tuesday when new benches were being assembled), we saw the helicopter fly over twice.

I got a pretty good shot of the copter as it flew out of sight on its south-north run.

If you have been in Crystal Lake, you may have seen signs warning that gypsy moth spraying would be taking place this week.

It certainly was too windy on Tuesday.

While still windy, it apparently was calm enough for sparying.

While I was at the outdoor chapel at the First United Methodist Church of Crystal Lake (not helping as much as I was able to Tuesday when new benches were being assembled), we saw the helicopter fly over twice.

I got a pretty good shot of the copter as it flew out of sight on its south-north run.