Last summer’s browntail moth caterpillar outbreak is expected to give a repeat performance next year.
Maine Forest Service entomologist Charlene Donahue informed more than a dozen local communities in October that she expects a return of the pest, hoping to give property owners and municipalities time to survey their lands and take action.
“For the second year in a row, there was enough late-summer damage to the leaves, particularly Sagadahoc County, that it could be mapped from the air,” Donahue wrote. “The late-summer defoliation indicates that populations are very high in those areas.”
Towns affected include parts of Arrowsic, Bowdoin, Bath, Bowdoinham, Phippsburg, Richmond, Topsham, West Bath, Woolwich, Brunswick, Freeport and Harpswell, in addition to Cumberland and Yarmouth.
In an aerial survey conducted at the end of August, Donahue found leaf damage to approximately 64,000 acres — primarily in Sagadahoc County but also in Cumberland County.
An aerial survey she conducted in September of 2015 revealed defoliation over only 11,000 acres.
Browntail moth eggs hatch in August and the caterpillars eat by skeletonizing the underside of leaves before they make overwintering webs.
The caterpillars eat the leaves of oak, apple and other hardwood trees from May to early July, resulting in damage or death of the trees. The caterpillars’ hair cause skin irritation as well as respiratory distress in some people. The hairs may linger for years and cause more irritation when they are stirred up by raking or other activities.
Property owners who think they have an infestation should now consider contacting a licensed pesticide applicator to remove them in the spring, Donahue said.
Donahue has been meeting with town officials to talk about browntail moths. Bowdoinham has a working group looking into what kind of measures they may be able to take to protect public property and support property owners.
Towns can also assist in coordinating browntail control for property owners, treat public properties such as ball fields, and have browntail moth declared a public health nuisance, which provides some flexibility in combating them.
While the threat of another outbreak looms, the Maine Forest Service is working with the Vector Borne Working Group on the health effects of browntail, and on additional control options with Pesticide Control, the University of Maine and licensed pesticide applicators.
“We’re looking at this from lots of different angles,” Donahue said.
More information is available on the Maine Forest Service Browntail Moth website.
dmoore@timesrecord.com
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