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WINTER MOTH COURTESY OF THE MINISTRY OF AGRICULTURE, CONSERVATION AND FORESTRY
BATH
To combat an invasive species of mites, state scientists will release a parasitic fly species that will eat pests from inside Bath today.
Winter caterpillars have been defoliating plants between Kittery and Mount Desert Island in Maine since 2012. Their larvae feed on trees such as oaks, maples, apples and bilberries in early spring and early summer. Repeated infestations can cause the death of trees.
The Maine Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Forests says that tens of thousands of acres of oaks have died in Massachusetts. In Maine, oaks die in Cape Elizabeth because of larvae.
Parasitic flies have, however, been successful in reducing butterfly populations in several localities in Massachusetts.
"Parasitic flies only attack snow moth and adult flies are only a few weeks old in May, making it a good biocontrol agent," according to a press release from the department. "They have been used successfully as a control strategy in Nova Scotia, parts of western Canada and the United States, and southern New England."
CYZENUS albicans ADULT, the winter moth parasite COURTESY OF THE MINISTRY OF AGRICULTURE, CONSERVATION AND FORESTRY
Entomologists at the Maine Forest Service, Maine Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry, will release flies into Grace Episcopal Church parking lot on Washington Street at 11 am today.
Flies are in cocoons in a cage to be buried in the ground until the spring. Flies will be released in early May.
Today's scheduled release is part of a larger outreach program, undertaken in collaboration with the University of Massachusetts, and funded by the US Department of Agriculture to control ringworm. winter in New England. Flies were released in six other locations in the southern Maine coast from 2013 and began to establish in Kittery, Cape Elizabeth and Vinalhaven.
According to the Massachusetts Audubon Society, the fly will lay eggs on the leaves consumed by the winter moth caterpillars. The eggs of the fly will hatch inside the caterpillars. At this stage, the larvae of the fly consume the caterpillar from the inside.
"In the following spring, an adult fly will turn into the caterpillar carcass and start the cycle again," says Audubon.
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