Seen a Low Flying Plane? It's Spraying for Gypsy Moths

Areas within DuPage County are scheduled to be treated this week for invasive European Gypsy Moths.

The Illinois Department of Agriculture is again teaming up with the Slow the Spread Foundation and the United States Department of Agriculture to conduct aerial treatments across the state that minimize invasive tree pest impacts, village officials said.

Gypsy moths are native to parts of Europe, Asia and northern Africa, and are capable of feeding on more than 500 different species of trees and plants. As a result, the insect is responsible for millions of acres of defoliation annually, according to state officials.

For the past 30 years, the state of Illinois has conducted annual treatments to control the moth's impact on forests and residential areas.

This Monday through Wednesday, five single-engine, fixed-wing airplanes will apply pheromone, a sexual attractant that disrupts the mating of the destructive moth, to 50,446 acres of land in DuPage, Jo Daviess, Kane, Will and Winnebago counties.   

The largest treatment site, a 33,022 acre area in DuPage and Will counties that affects the communities of Naperville, Warrenville, Lisle and Bolingbrook, was scheduled to be sprayed Monday and Tuesday along with 4,424 acres of the Fermilab in Kane County and 5,000 acres north of Joliet in Will.

The approximate treatment area in DuPage can be viewed on the Department of Agriculture's website.

For more information, visit www.agr.state.il.us/Environment/Pest/gypsymothinIL.html