Winter Moth Biocontrol

Last week I headed out to UMass Amherst to meet with some of the people in Cooperative Extension that participate in the Massachusetts Introduced Pests Outreach Project. While there, I got a tour of the Elkinton Lab, where they are working on a few different biological control projects that target insect pests. One of those projects is the rearing of a parasitic fly, Cyzenis albicans, for control of the winter moth (Operophtera brumata).

Right now, winter moth eggs are just about ready to hatch in Massachusetts, but in the Elkinton lab, the caterpillars are several weeks ahead of schedule, being raised in the best of conditions for the sole purpose of becoming incubators for the biocontrol flies.

Here is a batch of fly pupae:


The pupae are placed in a cage along winter moth caterpillars and some tree branches. Once the flies emerge, the presence of the caterpillars causes them to lay eggs. The eggs are collected and then fed to other caterpillars, to raise even more flies that will be released into the wild later this season.

Links:

• MIPOP Winter Moth Fact Sheet
  
• Biological Control of Winter Moth in Massachusetts (2005 Project Report, pdf file)
  
• Winter moth update, UMass Extension Landscape Message for April 17, 2008