Wilderness News Online

The number of gypsy moths in northern Minnesota continues to rise, despite successful efforts to eradicate established populations of the exotic insect.

The Minnesota Department of Agriculture reported recently that it trapped 28,000 gypsy moths in the state in 2009, more than double the number caught the previous year.

As the Lake County News-Chronicle reports HERE, the increase is attributed to natural spread of the pest and accidental introduction of it to the state by humans.

The MDA says that its eradication efforts along the North Shore of Lake Superior has been successful in controlling populations that had established themselves previously.

A pest imported from Europe in the 1860s, gypsy moths are voracious eaters that can defoliate entire trees.  Oaks and aspens are especially susceptible to the insect which has few North American predators.  Repeated defoliation of these trees by the pests can lead the death of the tree.

The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources has an extensive gypsy moth information page HERE.