Eastern tent caterpillars causing more destruction

By BENJAMIN RAY TIMES STAFF WRITER Tuesday, May 30, 2006

Another spring, another infestation of eastern tent caterpillars.

Reports from across the north country suggest that infestations range from negligible to extreme.

Boonville in Oneida County has sprayed trees in the village park, and the village of Potsdam will spend $17,500 to spray trees on 700 acres with Bacillus thuringiensis in the next couple of weeks, in an attempt to kill the caterpillars.

About the only person prospering from the caterpillar outbreak is Jeffrey T. Duflo, owner of Duflo Spray Chemical in New Bremen. Mr. Duflo owns two planes and works six to eight hours per day flying between Vermont, Massachusetts and New York to spray trees with BT.

"They don't only defoliate existing trees, but as they crawl from one tree to another they eat the seedlings, and that's your future forest," he said.

Eastern and forest tent caterpillars are back in full force and are chomping on leaves and leaving babies in trees throughout the north country. The 2006 outbreak is a continuation of last year's infestation, which looks to end next year because of the caterpillar's three-year outbreak cycle.

Experts at the Cornell Cooperative Extension offices in St. Lawrence and Lewis counties said the caterpillars tend to break out every decade or so and stick around for a couple of years. Researchers do not know why.

"They're around all the time, but their natural predators usually keep them under control," said Jennifer

L. Beckman, field crops educator with Lewis County's Cornell Cooperative Extension. "But every 10 to 12 years the population grows and nobody knows why."

Both forest tent and eastern tent caterpillars are making trouble in Northern New York. The forest variety has marks down its back that look like footsteps, while the eastern caterpillar simply has a white stripe down the back. Only the eastern variety makes tents.

"It's beyond comprehension," Mr. Duflo said. "There are areas where trees look like it's already fall. It's getting scary."

Individuals can purchase BT at hardware and outdoor stores. However, spraying BT on other surfaces is not recommended, so using a broom or hose to get caterpillars off a building is a better idea. The "tents" that house the caterpillars can be ripped out by hand as well.

The caterpillars will turn into moths around July 4, making it imperative to get rid of them soon so they don't lay eggs, said Stephen F. VanderMark, a horticultural and natural resources educator with Cornell's St. Lawrence County extension.

"I'm collating reports from around the eastern United States to figure this out," he said of the reasons for the caterpillar infestation. "We rely on reports of sugarbush and maple tree owners."

Part of that is because maple syrup producers are reluctant to tap a tree already stressed from infestation. Area maple syrup producers have said this year's sap production was down because of the caterpillars throughout the north country.

"Our government should be doing something about it," said Charles A. Rutley, a maple syrup producer in Sanfordville who usually produces around 8,000 gallons a year. "They can't protect their own trees in the country? I just can't afford to spray for them."

Mr. Rutley, who owns Rutley Maple Farms, said he will spend $8,000 to spray 300 to 400 trees. He said there is funding for other agricultural crops, but most people don't recognize the maple business, hence the lack of funding.

Susan J. Gwise, Jefferson County Cornell extension horticulturist, said there's not much Extension can do, though the offices receive phone calls constantly. She said the trees are used to dealing with these caterpillars every 10 to 12 years and said people shouldn't panic.

"It's like 'Here we go again, another defoliation,'" she said. "But now they are making inroads and hanging around on buildings."

Copyright 2006. Watertown Daily Times, Inc., Watertown, NY. All rights reserved.