Description of the Eradication Strategy
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An eradication strategy is followed when the objective is to prevent the
establishment of a self-perpetuating population of an exotic pest like the gypsy moth.
Presently, the insect is not considered to be established in Western Canada and the
Western United States.
The term "established" is an important one. An insect is officially
established if its population is deemed to be "perpetuating, for the foreseeable
future, within an area after entry" (as defined by the North American Plant
Protection Organization of which Canada, the U.S. and Mexico are members). Gypsy moth are
established in Canada and the U.S. in areas described by the Canadian Food Inspection
Agency (CFIA) in Appendix I of their Directive
Memo D-98-09. Within these established areas, eradication is not feasible and the only
management done is to slow spread and minimize impact. Regulatory agencies like the CFIA
are responsible for minimizing the risk of transport of infested materials out of the
known infested areas to prevent new infestations from occurring.
Washington, Oregon, Idaho and California are also using the eradication strategy to
prevent the establishment of gypsy moth. Further descriptions of their monitoring and
treatment programs can be found on the Gypsy Moth Links page.
An eradication strategy depends on a monitoring system using
pheromone traps to do early detection of moth introductions. Once moths are detected, the
following year a more intensive trapping program, known as "delimiting trapping"
is initiated to provide more accurate estimates of the location and approximate size of
the moth population. If populations are significant (as determined by gypsy moth control
specialists), the trap data - sometimes combined with egg mass survey information - is
used to determine the area of treatment.
Go to Selecting treatment options for a description of
the factors involved in choosing an appropriate treatment method. A population is
considered to be "eradicated" if there are two consecutive years of moth free
trapping after treatment.
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