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By LISA G. CURRIE
Rappahannock News Staff Writer
As oak trees unfold their fresh green leaves, the hoards of gypsy moth caterpillars begin their seige, devouring the tender new growth.
Presently gypsy moths, the tiny but destructive cream-colored moths, are hatching into their most destructive stage - the caterpillar or larvae — which have a voracious and seemingly insatiable appetite for oak leaves.
Tommy Williams, the Rappahannock County extension agent for agriculture, said he has seen “a dramatic increase in gypsy moth numbers in this area.” The Rappahannock native, who has spent most of his life in the county’s forests and fields, said the first sightings of the caterpillars was in the northwestern part of the county as they made their way out of the Shenandoah National Park near Chester Gap.
“Now we have reports of them in Amissville, the most eastern part of the county,” he said, shaking his head. The moths are also making their way south along the mountains, moving into Madison County near Nethers last year.
The innocuous gypsy moths were brought to this country by a French scientist hoping to cross-breed them with silkworms to create a stronger fiber for the silk industry. They escaped from his lab near Boston into the wilds of New England in 1869, and have been eating their wTay south ever since.
Without the predators which control it in its native European habitat, the gypsy moth caterpillars have proven to be nearly uncontrollable by man. No natural predators have been established in any great numbers, and chemical and organic warfare has been largely unsuccessful.
During recent years, mild winters have allowed
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