The city of Prince George has just traded one nasty pest for another. Earlier this year the area was plagued by tent caterpillars, in numbers not seen for nearly a decade. Now, that infestation has turned into a cloud of moths, laying their eggs on tree leaves in such large numbers that next year could be a repeat of the entire cycle.
It may look like snow in the night lights of Prince George, but it’s mid-July, of course.
This is in fact a major infestation of brown and white moths that has been plaguing residents in B.C.’s northern city.
“The moths are pretty harmless, so they don’t really do anything except accumulate in large numbers around lights,” says University of Northern B.C. professor Staffan Lindgren.
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The moth infestation should come as no surprise because earlier this summer Prince George was dealing with a major caterpillar infestation.
Tent caterpillars were hatching by the thousands, covering roads, and destroying deciduous trees.
The infestation was so bad that some experts were concerned that many trees in the city would be killed.
These infestations happen in cycles, but they haven’t been this bad for at least seven years.
“They’ve gone through the pupation stage, so they are now coming out to find a mate and generate the next generation of little caterpillars that are going to torture us next year,” says Lindgren.
The city of Prince George does not spray for pests like these. It simply waits for the creatures to go through their regular life cycles.
Moths don’t do damage like caterpillars, but some people can have an allergic reaction to their scales.
In Prince George at night, some residents are finding them annoying as they hover around by the thousands near any available light.
“You can do one of two things: you can not turn on your light so there is no light to attract them, or you can change the color of your light to yellow,” says Lindgren. “For some reason, that doesn’t seem to attract them.”
Once the moths mate and lay their eggs, they will die.
Experts say they’ll be gone in a week or two, but with so many laying eggs, it’s anyone’s guess just how many of the pests will be back next year.
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