All aerial treatments conducted by the Indiana DNR divisions of Forestry and Entomology & Plant Pathology to slow the spread of gypsy moth, now called spongy moth, for this year were completed as of Wednesday.
Spongy moth is one of North America's most devastating invasive forest pests and has caused thousands of acres of defoliation across the eastern United States.
Treatments for this destructive pest were conducted in Allen, Fulton, Huntington, Kosciusko, LaPorte, Marshall, Miami, Noble, Porter, Pulaski, Starke, Wabash, and Wells counties.
The treatments done most recently employed a mating-disruption process using SPLAT GM-O, an organic product made with food-grade materials. The droplets contain pheromone, which disrupts the insect's mating cycle.
The DNR will return to northern and perhaps sections of central or southern Indiana next spring and summer to continue the battle to slow the spread of this insect.
For more information, see gypsymoth.IN.gov
Categories: Indiana, Government & Policy