“We have 12,400 traps placed (in trees) across Ohio,” Frazier said Friday, July 31.
Gypsy Moths feast on over 300 different types of trees and shrubs, but is especially attracted to Oak trees. The feasting is a concern because it “sends the trees into defoliation,” Frazier said. “When that (defoliation) happens, a healthy tree can only withstand that for about two years before it becomes permanently damaged.”
The state is currently studying one tree in Kettering that may have been attacked by Gypsy Moths, Frazier said. However, she was not able to give the location of that tree on Friday.
During the July 28 Kettering City Council Work session, Assistant City Manager Al Fullenkamp told the council that city officials had called the state department about an Oak tree in the 4200 block of Lotz Road, that might have Gypsy Moth egg masses.
The amount of adult male Gypsy Moths caught in the state’s traps will help the state in their next phase of the surveying, which is taking a look at which locations in the state have egg masses on their trees, Frazier said. The egg mass research is apart of the state’s ground survey.
The state reports that 49 of Ohio’s 88 counties have established Gypsy Moth populations.
Read more about the Gypsy Moth at the Ohio Department of Agriculture's web site - www.agri.ohio.gov. Then press the link for the Gypsy Moth Program.
Read more about Kettering’s Gypsy Moth situation in the Aug. 6 edition of the Kettering & Oakwood Neighbors.
Contact this reporter at (937) 225-2414 or kwynn@DaytonDailyNews.com.
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