Study needed in New Brunswick to decide how to respond to massive moth outbreak
FREDERICTON — Photos of budworm moths coating trees and roadways in northern New Brunswick may be creepy, but a senior federal scientist says further study is needed to see if the sudden migration warrants costly, targeted spraying.
A senior insect ecologist with Natural Resources Canada says the swarms, featured in widely circulated images on social media, are the result of warm winds that carried the bugs from northern Quebec into the areas around Dalhousie and Campbellton in northern New Brunswick.
However, Rob Johns says it’s too early to determine whether the arrival of the moths — considered to be Canada’s most destructive forest pest — will contribute to an outbreak in his province.
“The question is whether it has any meaning. Just because you have moths moving to an area … they’re still relatively low densities and a lot of the natural populations of things like birds are going to use those as prey,” he said in an interview.