Looks like it will be a buggy year

By Bev Johnson | The Daily Journal

Published Saturday, June 14, 2008

Petunia is having a hissy fit. She absolutely abhors insects of any kind. Now the yard is full of June beetles (you can call them June bugs, they don't care).

The chokecherry trees in her yard have tents from the eastern tent caterpillar. The forest tent caterpillars are spinning webs in the aspen, birch trees and fruit trees and to top it off, she heard there are also canker worms in the area.

So what can Bunkey do to soothe her feathers? The webs of the eastern tent caterpillar can be physically removed and the caterpillars crushed or the twig it is fastened to can be cut off and the mess bagged or burned. Most of the caterpillars will be in the tent in the early morning or late afternoon.

During the day, they leave the tent to feed on the trees' leaves. Spraying the leaves with B.T. a bacteria readily available at most nurseries will kill them by paralyzing their gut so they starve to death.

You can use the same spray for both the other caterpillars. Most contact- and stomach-insecticides rapidly control the critters, however, they can also damage the environment. B.T. is environmentally safe.

Widespread outbreaks of forest tent caterpillars occur at intervals of 10 to 20 years. Outbreaks can develop suddenly or slowly.

The outbreak usually collapses quickly due to natural causes; for instance, starvation after a year or two of complete defoliation.

Also, there is a fly that kills many of the pupae in their cocoons.

Some beetles, ants, tree bugs, small animals and birds, feed on the caterpillars. A cool wet spring will slow development of the worms.

If you can apply B.T. or other insecticides while the caterpillars are small, you may be able to prevent some defoliation of your trees.

If you are too late and your trees end up naked, don't fret. They will get new leaves. Just not as big or as many as before the caterpillars got to them.

The caterpillars turn into moths and can make mass flights, moving hundreds of miles.

Turning off outside lights in June and July will help to keep them out of your yard to lay eggs.

As to the June beetles, Petunia will just have to put up with them for now. They are armored so save your spray. They have laid their eggs and will soon die.

Next year Bunkey will have to treat his lawn to kill the teenaged grubs. They are in a cycle and this is the last year of the cycle for much of the area. If you had damage two years ago, treat your lawn this year.

If you have grubs this year, it is too late. They are too big to kill.

Bev Johnson is a master gardener for West Otter Tail County.