The LDD Moth (Lymantria Dispar Dispar) infestation has faded with the summer, but the City of Markham has informed residents that the moths have left egg masses that property owners should scrape off their trees and drown in soapy water as they get their property ready for the fall.
“As we did before, Markham will be removing eggs from trees growing on city property. However, we need homeowners and property owners to help take care of trees on private property,” said David Plant, Senior Manager of Parks, Horticulture and Forestry.
“In the spring and summer months, the wind carries baby caterpillars to new trees, so we all need to do our part now to minimize the number of caterpillars that will hatch in 2022 and protect our trees.”
The city is asking residents to use something that will be gentle on tree bark such as a dull knife, a paint stir stick or a plastic spatula when scraping the egg masses.
Catch the eggs in a small container of soapy water and leave them for two days before emptying them into the garbage. If any eggs fall on the ground, step on them to crush them.
If eggs are removed before they have a chance to hatch, there will be fewer caterpillars emerging in Spring 2022 to ravage trees again. LDD Moth is a non-native, invasive forest pest and can eat an average of one square metre of leaves.
Watch a video on how to effectively remove egg masses at markham.ca/LDDMoth and click on the “What can residents do?” accordion.
