Wednesday, July 19, 2017 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon
MOTHS: Outbreak is
cyclical — and this
one is small
Continued from page 3
homes, barns and businesses.
The adult moths, however,
have no interest in eating,
and even if they did, they
couldn’t, as they do not have
a mouth. They’re interested in
one thing, and one thing only:
mating.
Female moths are flying
about releasing pheromones
(scent) that are distinctive to
their species, which the males,
with their oversize, yellow
antennae are quick to sense
and recognize. Nature has
dictated that they have only a
very short time to get the job
done; in about a week they’ll
all be dead.
Pandora moths are not
found everywhere in the U.S.;
it is the loose pumice soils
that make this part of North
America their desired habi-
tat. The pine tree needles they
devour go with the soils, mak-
ing our area just right for this
very specialized insect.
Their life cycle works
something like this: around
the end of June, the adult
moths appear and dig their
way out of the ground where
they went from caterpillar to
adult in the pupae stage. They
mate and the females lay eggs,
which hatch in August. Those
larva satisfy their hunger by
eating the needles of pines —
and only pines.
They grow as they eat and
at the point where they get too
big for their outside skin, they
grow a new layer beneath it
and then burst the outer skin
and the next instar (the term
for growth of a caterpillar)
emerges. After its seventh
instar, the larvae (caterpillars)
drop off the trees and bury
themselves in the soft soils,
where they will remain for a
year (or, in some areas, two
to four years), and eventually
emerge as adult moths.
Hence their cyclic
appearance.
On a big hatch year, the
caterpillars’ need to burrow
underground in the right soils
has caused costly problems
for ODOT. During an out-
break in the 1970s, traffic on
Highway 97 between Bend
and Klamath Falls crushed
millions of caterpillars cross-
ing the highway, which
became so slick that cars and
trucks went sliding around
smashing into one another. As
a result, sanding trucks had to
be employed to prevent more
accidents.
Retired Sisters cross-coun-
try coach, Kris Kristovich
recalls back in ’91 when he
and his 6-year-old grand
daughter, Natasha, were
attending a night baseball
game in Vince Genna Stadium
in Bend when the moths
appeared in great numbers,
making a real mess of things.
They are attracted to yard
lights and other sources, so
if you don’t want them to
lay eggs on your pines, turn
off your lights; you’ll save
energy, not attract the moths,
and save money at the same
time.
Like other things in
Nature, where everything is
connected, there are “natural
controls” for population build-
ups. It’s a “wilting virus” that
puts the finish on expanding
adult Pandora moth numbers.
Also, during their population
explosion, wasp and fly para-
sites lay eggs on and in the
caterpillars, which also takes a
great toll on the moths, while
helping the wasps and flies to
keep going.
Then there’s our little
screech owl look-a-like, the
flammulated owl. They nest
near Lava Top Butte south of
Bend and in other pine forests
with dead trees and wood-
pecker cavities. While most
owls are rodent-eaters, the
little flammulated is an insect-
eater, with Pandora moths
high on their diet.
You can kill them with
chemicals, but why bother?
The current outbreak is a
small one and nearly over, so
of little consequence to we
humans.
27
PHOTO BY SUE ANDERSON
Adult Pandora moth at Sisters Rental.
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