Maine
Snow-walking caterpillars are the latest example of Maine’s extreme weather
First got here the snow. Then got here the caterpillars.
The caterpillars — the larval stage of the yellow underwing moth — have been in Maine because the Nineteen Seventies, lurking under the snow each winter. However their surprising exercise over the weekend left people across the state taking to social media asking concerning the black caterpillars crawling on prime of the contemporary snow.
Generally referred to as winter cutworms, the caterpillars are capable of stand up to chilly temperatures and spend their winters feeding on grasses, roots and different herbaceous vegetation, in keeping with Jim Dill, pest administration specialist with College of Maine Cooperative Extension.
They’re a gregarious species — for a caterpillar — touring and feeding in teams. Which helps to elucidate why individuals have been reporting seeing scores of them on the snow this previous weekend.
Dill suspects the cutworms have been particularly energetic within the days main as much as the storm final week as a result of the climate had been so unseasonably delicate. The caterpillars are the newest instance of climate extremes right here in Maine which might be altering the standard behaviors of native animals and vegetation.
“Consider it, we had inexperienced grass till very lately,” Dill stated. “Then, identical to that, they acquired caught on prime of the snow.”
For the cutworms that weren’t capable of burrow again all the way down to the bottom beneath the snow, they seemingly died, both from freezing or changing into a straightforward meal.
“If there have been any birds round, they might have seen the cutworms,” Dill stated. “The birds would have simply noticed these black worms on white snow after which, wham-bang, gotten them.”
Yellow underwing moths are a comparatively current invasive species in Maine, in keeping with Dill. They’re native to Europe and first confirmed up in Maritime Canada and New England within the Nineteen Seventies.
Out west, they’re thought of a possible pest as a result of fears they might trigger appreciable harm to crops in a brief period of time, in keeping with the Oregon State Extension Service.
How a lot harm the cutworm stage of the moth might trigger relies upon largely on their numbers and particular environmental situations.
Thus far, there isn’t a indication gardeners or growers right here have something to fret about.
“Sure, if you happen to get them in excessive sufficient numbers they could be a pest,” he stated. “However to date we aren’t getting these numbers in Maine.”