What is that on my tree?

If you have noticed these soft tan or grey coloured blotched on your trees. These are egg masses left behind by the female Gypsy Moth, which is considered an invasive species here in Ontario. Each egg mass may contain up to 1000 eggs. THAT IS A LOT OF BABIES!!! These babies grow up to be caterpillars, caterpillars that love to feast on your beautiful trees. Although they do have their favourite trees to munch on such as oak (Quercus), maple (Acer), beech (Fagus) and a few others. They will eat just about anything when the numbers get as high as they did this past season. We need to lower their numbers.

Integrated Pest Management (IPM) which is a method that manages plant pests by combining various control tactics. This method is not meant to completely eradicate a spices, but bring it to a tolerable level that no longer causes major destruction.

There are several forms of control that have low impact on the environment and still help to lower the numbers. Right now the form of control is to scrape off the egg masses to prevent large populations of larvae from hatching in the spring. It is recommended that the eggs are put into soapy water to ensure they do not survive on the ground. If you see large quantities of egg masses on your tree can you imagine how many you don't see in our urban forest? We know it is not a pleasant job and some of the egg masses are high in the canopy are hard to get to. We are happy to help! Please contact us and we can help devise a plan to help lower the numbers of these aggressive pests! Get a free Quote.