Cankerworms ignore social distancing rules

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This article was published 01/06/2020 (1424 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Hanging on trees, crawling on sidewalks and latching onto your clothes, cankerworms are back in Winnipeg and they aren’t following social distancing guidelines.

As the weather warms up and people start to spend more time outdoors, be prepared to have to dodge a few cankerworms — but Ken Nawolsky, the City’s Insect Control superintendent, said this year might not be that bad.

“When we’re comparing it to last year, there seems to be a little bit less of a population,” Nawolsky said.

Entomologist Taz Stuart, of Poulin’s Pest Control, echoed Nawolsky’s thoughts and said it shouldn’t be a bad year for cankerworms — there will be some “hot spots,” while some areas of the city won’t see many cankerworms at all.

Some of the hot spots Stuart has come across so far this year are Victoria Crescent, North Kildonan and Elmwood.

Nawolsky said the City started spraying foliated trees on May 24 when they began their tree pest caterpillar control program. They completed treatment in the Kildonan Park and Seven Oaks areas on Monday night and are currently continuing to treat other areas like Crescent Park, Tuxedo and Luxton.

The crews spray Sunday through to Thursday night, take a break on Friday and Saturday night and then start spraying more trees on Sunday again.

“We prioritize the city in areas that need the most treatment to stop defoliation. And then we make sure they are treated first,” said Nawolsky.

The number of cankerworms may seem less for people this year because there aren’t many elm spanworms, which people sometimes confuse with cankerworms. And this year, Stuart said he hasn’t seen a single elm spanworm.

Stuart said there’s more to cankerworms than the fear of finding one on the back of your shirt — they cause harm to trees. They’re usually feeding on tree leaves which causes defoliation. But trees have a few things on their side.

Besides keeping the soil healthy, Stuart said, “trees have other purposes, too.

“They give a large umbrella canopy in front of houses, saving those houses from heat during the day and acts as a barrier in the winter to reduce heating costs.”

The city plans to continue spraying the foliage on trees in parks and boulevards for three more weeks when they believe the cankerworm cycle will be over.

“Once the feeding stops is when we stop treating,” said Nawolsky.

kellen.taniguchi@freepress.mb.ca