MOUNT VERNON – The Ohio Department of Agriculture (ODA) is spraying to control the
invasive spongy moth in portions of the City of Mount Vernon and surrounding areas early this week.
Spongy moth caterpillars feed on leaves, weakening trees and shrubs and potentially killing them. The ODA has determined there is a growing population in this area and that a control treatment is needed.
The agency says treatments, which are made aerially, are not harmful to humans, animals, honeybees or plants.
The area to be treated includes the eastern portion of Mount Vernon, the village of Gambier and much of Monroe and Pleasant Townships, east to Monroe Mills Road.
The ODA is using airplanes or helicopters flying 100 to 200 feet above the treetops to spray the insecticide SPLAT GM-O, a non-toxic, biodegradable formulation that controls spongy moths using pheromones, which control the insects by eliminating their ability to mate.
The ODA advises that if the insecticide is found on vehicles or other surfaces it can be washed off with soap and water.
The spongy moth (Lymantria dispar), which has been an invasive insect in the U.S. for centuries, was known as the gypsy moth until 2022, when the Entomological Society of America changed the name of the insect due to the word “gypsy” being used as a derogatory term for the Romani people.
The insect was introduced into this country by the Frenchman Etienne Trouvelot in Medford, Mass., in the mid-1860s.
Trouvelot, who fashioned himself an amateur entomologist, thought the spongy moth could be used for silk production, but the larvae kept by Trouvelet soon escaped into the neighboring woods.
Trouvelot then lost interest in entomology and moved back to his native France, where he later died.
