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winter moths

i have noticed a decline this season of the winter moths /caterpillars. is it due to the fly that was introduced? or the severe temps that killed off a lot of , plants and trees here. rose of sharon, butterfly bush, ornamental grasses, heather/heath. and a lot of evergreens,leyland cypress,arborvitae, mostly these were from the first storm out of the north,and desiccated many evergreens. in my area on cape, we went from zone 6 to 4. fickle temps enough to kill established plants. your not alone.

same down here in zone 11 it seems. winter moth caterpillars are nonexistant, gypsy moths definetely less than last year. I thought it was do to an extended ( winter weather pattern) with below normal temps into april. But whatever the reason, my maple and apple trees are happy for it! I heard about the killer fly but I dont think they are prolific enough yet to make a serious dent. The other thought was maybe just a cyclical downturn like other insects do....

Saw that on the news one night a month or so ago. They aren't sure if it is attributable to the fly or if other natural predator populations have risen but yes the moths have been beaten down.

I have seen a bunch of Gypsey caterpillars here but maybe less then last year.

x2 what Spike says

It was a disease that killed them overnight last year. My trees were loaded, an army of caterpillars was marching up and down one day ( alive and well) as I was trying to kill as many as I could with a broom ...and they were all dead the next day. Like a moth-pocalypse.

I walked the woods and found many trees with dead caterpillars all over. A bacterial virus of some kind. Natures way of population control or some such bad luck for the bugs.

This year ( zone 11 south coastal) I have found only 2 smalls and one medium gypsy moth caterpillars. A 99,999% decrease.

I don't remember seeing any or at least not many winter months this past year. Maybe the same disease killed both.

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