HARPSWELL, Maine — Next spring, armies of parasitic flies will lay siege on the winter moth, an invasive species that threatens the town’s forests.
State entomologist Charlene Donahue said this is one of the efforts the Maine Forest Service is taking to control the winter moth population, in coordination with the U.S. Forest Service, the University of Maine and the University of Massachusetts.
Signs of the winter moth caterpillar were first reported in May — a grave concern because of the massive devastation the moth can cause in forests.
“They’ve been here for some time, because of the amount of acreage that’s already affected and how severe it is in some places,” Donahue said in July.
Representatives from the agencies and universities visited Harpswell forests on Sept. 28 to decide where to place devices that will monitor the winter moth population and the general conditions of the forest, Donahue said.
He said the state and federal agencies will seek grants to fund prevention, monitoring and research efforts.
The University of Maine will monitor the effects winter moth has on the surrounding environment in Harpswell, Donahue said. The University of Massachusetts already has helped the Maine Forest Service positively identify the winter moth caterpillar.
To control the winter moth population, parasitic flies — known as Cyzenis albicans — will be released into the forest.
Joseph Elkinton, a professor of environmental conservation at University of Massachusetts, said the flies will lay eggs on leaves in the spring, which the winter moth caterpillars will eat. The eggs will then hatch within the caterpillars, killing them before they create cocoons.
The newly hatched flies will then stay in the cocoons as shelter during the winter and emerge to lay eggs on leaves and begin the cruel cycle once again.
Elkinton said that because the flies rely on the caterpillar cocoons for winter survival, the fly population will naturally decrease when the winter moth does.
Donahue said that decreasing the winter moth population will take several years, but the species will never be fully exterminated.
“The winter moth won’t go away. It’s here,” he said. “This will just create an equilibrium so the impact is not as bad.”
I can’t smoke a joint, yet the powers that be can release an experimental parasite into the wild. Neat. BTW, love the Coccinellidae, block all of the suns rays from penetrating the windows on a warm fall day….
Yeah – this is going to turn out really well. Not..
I say smoke up before these things mutate and destroy civilization.
And if that don’t work then a little dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane behind their ears will take care of the problem right quick……. DONTCHAKNOW
Half a billion ladybugs bombarding the house last week thanks in part to scheme years ago to battle …what was it… spruce bud-worm? Yeah. Nothing that can’t go badly with this brilliant plan to tamper with mother nature either!
Ladybugs sure do a great job keeping aphids out of my garden tho…
These are the flies that are believed to have caused widespread damage to bee colonies. I wonder if all the blueberry growers even realize this.
A recently released study confirmed that a lot of the mysterious widespread deaths among bee colonies were caused by this parasitic fly, as its eggs got into the bee’s abdomen and then later ate through the abdomen as they hatched.
Ironically the bees are smart enough to abandon the hive so as to not further spread the parasite. Even so, these parasites have caused widespread damage to bee colonies throughout the northeast and other parts of the US.
If this goes through I will guarantee that within a few years we will be hearing about what a mistake it was to release these.
What if these flies lay eggs on crops consumed by humans? All it will take is one person who eats something straight from the garden and then we will be regretting this move.
humans only think they are smart enough to play god. when in reality all we are doing is a damn good job at destroying mother nature, not helping it.. i think we are the invasive species here. we are the only creatures on the planet that consume its resources and destroy it over greed. some smart creatures we are.. http://www.enveurope.com/content/23/1/10 how about this …. this is an article in a european science journal about the first ever long term testing done on genetically modified food. guess what IT CAUSES CANCER.. why is it not headlined because our food industry does NOT want us to know what they are doing to our bodies our new media was actually trying to dismiss this research. the longest trial required here in the us are 90 days 3 months does anyone really think that we can tell the health effects after only 3 months. we cannot even get away from gmos if we would like because there is no labeling required. talk about ruining the planet large scale farming is depleating our farm soil leaving it devoid of all micro organisms that promote healthy plants. or how about the growth hormones that they are pumping into our livestock to grown them faster. with no regard to the quality of life of the animals. if we raised our animals here at home in the condition they live in large scale farming we would be arrested for animal cruelty. when will everyone wake up or ware we going to make ourselves extinct over greed and tyranny.
Can someone quote a peer reviewed article in which the outcome of one of these “experiments” was, in the long term, positive in nature?