Moths Everywhere!
Tuesday, July 17, 2012 @ 4:00 AM
Entranceway of a downtown building is covered in moths
Prince George, B.C. – The infestation of the tent caterpillars in Prince George has entered the next phase, as hoards of moths are now infesting the urban landscape.
Attracted by lights, the moths are particularly prevalent in the downtown core, where security lighting and street lighting are the major draw.
The moths’ activity in the late evening, has created a living “blizzard” near well lit areas, but there is good and bad news associated with that fatal attraction.
Professor of Forest Entomology at UNBC Staffan Lindgren says the moths dancing with the lights, are not likely to reproduce as they are too mesmerized by the lights to spend time looking for a new host tree to 
lay eggs. The bad side of this is that in the morning, people heading to work are being greeted by a welcome mat of fluttering wings as the moths buzz in their final throes of death.
lay eggs. The bad side of this is that in the morning, people heading to work are being greeted by a welcome mat of fluttering wings as the moths buzz in their final throes of death.It is very high on the “ick” scale, but at least the moths are not laying eggs that will produce another major tent caterpillar infestation next year.
( at right, a decorative banner in downtown Prince George is freckled with moths)
Professor Lindgren says the major infestations of tent caterpillars usually lasts for 3 and in rare cases, 4 years, “Then a naturally occurring virus will have an impact as it makes its way through a tent caterpillar population when it gets really dense.” He says once that occurs, it could be about 10 more years before we see another major infestation.
The heat wave in the region is also having an impact on the caterpillar and moths as the heat, speeds up their development causing them to be stressed and reducing their likelihood of reproducing. He says the last of these moths should be seen in about a week or week and a half.
Ah but there are other little critters to keep an eye on. Professor Lindgren says there is the Aspen Leaf Miner , which is responsible for those wild maze-like patterns on aspen leaves. Last year, this insect was so busy on trees along Highway 16 West, it looked as though all the Aspen were silver. And then there’s the Satin Moth. That is the white moth that is showing up in Prince George. Like the tent caterpillar, it likes Aspen. “It is an exotic moth, which has moved up from the South” says Professor Lindgren “I thought at first it had come here as a result of climate change, but a colleague of mine says this moth has been expanding its range since it arrived in B.C. in the 1920’s so it would have made it’s way here sooner or later.”
As for the brown moths that are carpeting the entrances to businesses, and freckling decorative banners in the downtown, Professor Lindgren says there are just two things that will bring this to an end, heat and patience.
Comments
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Looks as decorative as the weeds, Shari.
There is the money maker “I thought at first it had come here as a result of climate change” I wonder how many grants the good professor has recieved dropping “climate change” into his request. The climate is always changing, is it not?
I think the professor should read this– http://wattsupwiththat.com/2012/07/16/by-its-actions-the-ipcc-admits-its-past-reports-were-unreliable/
and this—http://wattsupwiththat.com/2012/07/17/new-paper-blames-about-half-of-global-warming-on-weather-station-data-homgenization/
Grab the money while you can.
lucky moths. wish we had a naturally occurring virus that kicked in whenever populations got too high.
How about a major vacuum campaign where everyone got out their vacuums and just helped them disappear. Don’t forget to seal them in an airtight garbage when you are done so they don’t get away.
I spotted a murder of Crows kickin back in the shadows picking their teeth and burping up moth wings this morning.
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