The Washington state Department of Agriculture’s (WSDA) spongy moth trappers collected 103 spongy moths this year.
That’s up substantially from 30 moths statewide in 2022 and only six in 2021.
The spongy moths, formerly known as gypsy moths prior to 2022, were caught as part of the WSDA Pest Program’s regular summer moth survey program, during which more than 20,000 traps were placed around the state this year.
Of the moths trapped, 81 were in Thurston County, with 77 trapped near Steamboat Island Road, making that the most moths trapped in one area in more than 30 years.
Other counties with spongy moth catches included Pierce, Skagit, King, San Juan and Snohomish counties.
“We had a surprising number of catches this year,” said Susan Brush, acting invasive moth projects coordinator, in a news release. “Our next step is to look for egg masses in the areas with the highest concentration of catches. Once we have that information, we’ll have the data necessary to start planning our response to this introduction.”
WSDA has monitored and successfully prevented spongy moths from establishing in the state since 1974.
Each year, the state has new introductions of the invasive pest from people moving from the Eastern U.S. where 20 states are permanently infested with the moth or, more rarely, through the ports, according to the release.
According to the WSDA, spongy moths are an “extremely destructive pest that threatens entire forests, parks and neighborhood trees and shrubs.”
The moths can defoliate acres of trees during outbreaks, which can result in the death of millions of trees and the destruction of native habitat for countless species, according to the WSDA. During an outbreak in eastern states in 2016, the damage was so extensive it could be seen on NASA satellites.
Visit agr.wa.gov/moths for more information about spongy moths and WSDA’s trapping and eradication programs.
