The objective of this report is to describe the current increase in Douglas-fir tussock moth (Orgyia pseudotsugata McDunnough) activity in northern Idaho and Montana. The report also relates current conditions to historical and future trends and larger scale increasing tussock moth activity in surrounding western states.
The last outbreak of the Douglas-fir tussock moth, Hemerocampa pseudotsugata McD., in the Northern Region subsided in 1965. Tussock moth populations were not detected again until 1970 when ornamental spruce were defoliated in Spokane, Washington, and Poison and Missoula, Montana.
Douglas-fir tussock moth egg mass studies during winter 1974 indicate that natural factors such as low egg viability, egg parasitism, and virus do not alter the potential for heavy defoliation in two sections south of Frenchtown and one section northwest of Lolo, Montana.
An epidemic of Douglas-fir tussock moth was detected in northern Idaho
in 1972. In 1973, aerial surveys showed that nearly 100,000 acres contained
various degrees of visible defoliation. An egg mass survey of
five reporting units made in the fall of 1973 determined potential for
damage in 1974. Based on...
Mortality from various causes was recorded in a Douglas-fir tussock moth, Orgyia pseudotsugata McD., outbreak southeast of Coeur d'Alene, Idaho, in 1974. Observations began June 27 when about 50 percent of the larvae were second instars and continued until pupation. Within a 35-day period, there was a 93 percent average...
Douglas-fir tussock moth populations are monitored annually in northern Idaho and western Montana to insure early detection of changes from endemic to outbreak population levels. Adult moth trapping in 1982 was intensified and expanded into additional areas from 1981 because of concern that with each passing year the probability of...