By SHARON KILPATRICK

By SHARON KILPATRICK

Rappahannock Neva Staff Writer

There was a good turnout at both public meetings on controlling the gypsy moth that were held at Mt. Lebanon Baptist Church last week.

Many landowners were interested in being included in the spray blocks which are being established in the southern third of the county. No one expressed the desire not to be sprayed.

The Appalachian Integrated Pest Management Project is an activity of the federal government. It covers an area that includes most of West Virginia and a portion of Virginia. Only the southern third of Rappahannock County is included in the AIPM project area. For those acres in the project area that qualify spraying is free, but the money is administered by the state government and its policy is not to treat lots of acres of uninhabited forest land, Gary McAninch, who is working on the AIPM project, told the audience. The spray blocks are being set up in areas that have at least one house for each 25 acres.

Former gypsy moth coordinator Mary Dobrovir said that her work on trapping male gypsy moths and counting egg masses indicates that all of theV county in the AIPM area would qualify based on the gypsy moth population, but spray blocks were being set up according to AIPM guidelines.

Mrs. Dobrovir said that one landowner, whose land is being used as a game preserve especially for waterfowl, will have his land treated with Gypchek, a virus that is very specific for the gypsy moth. This is only available in limited amounts. The rest of the land to be treated will be sprayed by private pilots with either Bt or Dimilin. Bt is a naturally occurring bacteria that is sometimes less effective than Dimilin and can effect leaf-chewing caterpillars other than the gypsy moth. Dimilin is a chemical pesticide, the least expensive recommended treatment, but it can affect non-target insects and crustaceans and is not recommended for use around water where the food supply of fish can be killed.

Those landowners outside the AIPM area or in the area but not within the spray blocks can treat for gypsy moths by hiring private sprayers. Mr. McAninch suggested that they try to go in with neighboring landowners to put together their own spray blocks.

One landowner reported some success in treating individual trees by “zapping” those egg masses he can reach briefly with a propane torch. He said he also trapped the caterpillars during the chewing season by wrapping a folded over strip of burlap around the tree. The caterpillars climb down out of the tree to the ground at night, and when they try to crawl up the next morning they can become trapped in the burlap. Then he disposes of them by dropping them in a bucket of chlorine bleach.

See SPRAY, p. 3