Comments on The Ohio Nature Blog: Gypsy Moths at Highbanks Metro Park

It's amazing what an effect such a little creature...

2009-07-21T21:46:30.628-04:00

It's amazing what an effect such a little creature can have! I'm glad to see that they put up informative signs, and particularly that they noted that the trees were not dead. I think there's a lot of unnecessary fuss over defoliator outbreaks - as they note, the trees are rarely killed, they just look a little unsightly for a season or two.

Birds will have a field day and a great breeding season as a result of the moth outbreak, bet you'll be seeing lots of baby birds around there this summer. These events are extremely beneficial for them. Evening Grosbeaks are known for that - they're a bit nomadic, feeding almost exclusively on spruce budworm during the breeding season, and for a while in the 70s and 80s their populations soared with the corresponding increases in budworm outbreaks. Since the budworm has been brought under control by artificial/human means in order to preserve forestry "crops", grosbeak numbers have plummeted, stabilizing at about half of what they were at their peak 30 years ago.

Kathleen- You should check this area out. Yes, i...

2009-07-03T07:21:26.708-04:00

Kathleen- You should check this area out. Yes, it does look like certain doom to the Oaks. I can't imagine if the whole park looked like this.

Tom

Wow. I knew they were around this year, but I had...

2009-07-02T22:44:56.103-04:00

Wow. I knew they were around this year, but I hadn't seen any sites hit this hard. It reminded me that my dad, growing up in the northeast, remembers the gypsy moth invasion when he was young. He said everyone believed that would be the end of the oaks. Luckily, that was not the case.

Abe- The moths have generally moved from the NE to...

2009-06-29T22:00:21.364-04:00

Abe- The moths have generally moved from the NE to Southwest, so you're lucky to be at the western end of the spread. Thanks for the compliments. I've been seeing japanese beetles as well- Maybe we'll have a big year- I hope not.

Thanks Tom- And thanks for the great post, you really did a great job telling people what we botanists do and look for.

Tom

Tom: Amazing photography, those buggers are hard o...

2009-06-29T08:40:55.747-04:00

Tom: Amazing photography, those buggers are hard on the forest. I will be posting our meeting this afternoon.

It is a shame they are back or around eating every...

2009-06-29T08:18:56.513-04:00

It is a shame they are back or around eating everything in sight. I had a single gypsy moth land on my brick wall a couple of years ago. It was the only time I have seen one since I lived here (1962). None since.

I thought your photography was very good as was the video.

I also saw two Japanese beetles last week. One on my trousers got carried into the house. One on a sunflower leaf which I killed. I hope we don't have another infestation of them like we did several years ago. They ate everything in sight.