City of Toronto, Urban Forestry Services has been busy chasing unwanted guests out of Moore Park — thousands of hungry gypsy moths still in their caterpillar stage.
“We saw a pretty drastic increase in gypsy moth population in Moore Park,” explained forest health supervisor Kristjan Vitols. With their insatiable appetite for oak trees, the leafy neighbourhood was the ideal place for the caterpillars to take up residence. Unfortunately, the caterpillars have been eating away at the leaves on the neighbourhood’s trees, leaving their leaves full of small holes. “[They] can quickly defoliate a tree completely,” said Vitols.
Under Toronto’s Strategic Forest Management Plan, the area was sprayed with pesticide Bacillus thuringiensis subspecies kurstaki [BTK] from a low-flying helicopter in two separate sessions several weeks ago. Though the caterpillars are no more, Vitols explained that trees may still have some damage — in order to be killed by the spray, the caterpillars will have to nibble on the leaves: “We have to spray it on the leaf, and then it’s actually required that the caterpillar ingests the leaf a little bit,” said Vitols.
Coun. Kristyn Wong-Tam said she hasn’t noticed significant damage and that the rainy weather has probably been a factor in the trees staying vibrant and green.
“With the amount of rain we’ve had, Moore Park and Rosedale [are] actually prettier than [they have] ever been,” she said.
Wong-Tam said she has not heard any residents voicing concerns about how the damage would affect property values, but they have been worried about the affects that BTK will have on their health and the health of their pets. “The residents of Moore Park are conscientious of what chemicals do go in the air,” said Wong-Tam.
Vitols clarified that BTK poses no danger to humans and is certified for use on organic produce. He added that spraying is done for this year, but there is no guarantee that the moths will not return in years to come.
“We can’t eradicate this pest,” he said. “That’s not our goal.”