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Helicopter to spray parts of north Sarnia for gypsy moths

Journal Staff Sarnia has hired a company with a twin-engine helicopter to begin spraying gypsy moths with a biological insecticide.
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These oak trees in Our Lady of Mercy Cemetery were stripped of their leaves by gypsy moth caterpillars last July. Though they grew back, successive years of defoliation can kill the tree. Glenn Ogilvie

Journal Staff

Sarnia has hired a company with a twin-engine helicopter to begin spraying gypsy moths with a biological insecticide.

If wind and weather conditions permit, the first aerial spray will be applied in targeted areas May 15, with a second application five to seven days later, the city’s forestry department says.

The process should take about 15 minutes and begin around 5:30 a.m.

Homeowners within the prescribed spray area will get a notice letter seven days before the first application, with updates provided on social media 48 hours in advance.

Gypsy moths, an invasive species whose caterpillars can quickly defoliate trees, attacked pockets of the urban forest last summer.

The target area is 64 hectares (157 acres), which includes Canatara Park and Lake Chipican Drive, Oak Acres Park, Lakeshore Road east of Modeland, and Colborne Road north of Michigan, south of Cathcart, and east to Errol Road and Ridgewood Drive.

For more, visit https://www.sarnia.ca/gypsy-moth-%20%20control-program/


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