Sey rr ine Ne Ha SUNDAY CE OF NORTH AND WEST VANCOUVER November 6, 1988 News 985-2131 Classified 986-6222 Distribution 986-1337 56 pages 25¢ V Gypsy has troub AUTHORITIES NEED PUBLIC ASSISTANCE TO TRACK INSECTS AGRICULTURE Canada officials confirmed Thursday that a male Gypsy Moth was found Nov. 1 in a trap along West Vancouver’s Southborough Drive, and are consequently urging residents who have moved {o the area from eastern Canada or the zastern United States within the last two years to contact the department. Gypsy Moth caterpillars, now firmly established in southern Qn- tario and southern Quebec and the eastern United States, have a voracious appetite and are known to feed on the foliage of 150 tree and shrub species. They are an especially serious threat to such deciduous specics as oak. In 1981, for example, approx- imately 1.2 million hectares of vastern. United States woodland were destroyed by the pests, and by 1985, 100,000 hectares of forest in Ontario and Quebec had been affected by Gypsy Moth infesta- tions. Nova Scotia and New Brunswick are now also suffering Gypsy Moth invasions. Mark Harvey, Agriculture Canada’s Gypsy moth coordinator in B.C., said Wednesday the moth was found in a trap in the British Properties along Southborough Drive just near the Capilano Golf and Country Chub. While the moth’s caterpillar has plenty of food sources in B.C. and has been known to survive on such local tree species as alder and western hemlock, Harvey said the main threat from the moth locally is the detrimental effect it could have on Lower Mainland trade. Because the moth is an interna- tional pest, countries importing such B.C. products as wood could place trade embargoes on agricultural and forest products originating or processed in affected areas and shipped through Van- couver’s port if a Gypsy Moth in- festation were to break cut. He cited a 1984 infestation of 20,000 Gypsy Moths in Oregon’s Lane County. An estimated 225,000 acres were eventually sprayed with the biological insec- By TIMOTHY RENSHAW News Reporter ticide Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) at a vost of $19 million before the moths were finally brought under control. California threatened to place a trade embargo on all lumber ex- ports from the area untii the moths were destroyed. Harvey said the discovery of the single moth in West Vancouver is no reason to panic, ‘‘but it is an indication of something. Exactly what, we don’t know yet.” Gypsy moths were first detected in B.C. in 1978 when five moths were discovered in Kitsilano. Small infestations have been found in various areas of the province since, but all have been eradicated. This year control programs were carried out in Parksville, Es- quimalt and Kelowna, where 198 moths were discovered in 1987. Approximately 100 hectares of the Okanagan city were subse- quently sprayed with Bt, a bacteria taken from sick silkworms. Moths have also been found in Coquitlam, Tsawwassen, Qualicum Beach and Yard Creek in the Kootenays. Infestations of the moths are normally spread slowly by the wind, which picks up the silk threads spun by young caterpillars, but female moths lay their egg- masses in such man-made objects as recreational vehicles, trailers, lumber, boats and lawn furniture, which can then transport the moths long distances. The moths that showed up in See Troublesome e potential NEWS photo Mike Wakatlold THE NURSES and physicians of Lions Gate Hospital decided to pitch in and help with the emergency services provided at the North Shore hospital by creating and selling the Emergency Team Calendar and the Emergency Measures Cookbook. RN’s show both wares. Pictured. are (left to right): Liz Martlia, 9 Kaija Suni, Daryle Rajala, Cynthia Hodgins and Jan Skidmore. Calendar and cookbook can be pur- § chased by cating 984-5785.