|
|
|
|
Colors draw visitors to high country, while moths infest the valley floor |
|
|
Friday, 10 October 2008 |
 The area bathed in color and light, photographers were everywhere along State Route 168 taking pictures of the aspens changing colors. Some shutterbugs dared slippery rocks over icy waters for a shot while a select few perched their tripods right in the middle of the roadway to get the photograph they wanted. Photo by Mike Bodine By Mike Bodine
Register Staff
10-9-2008 Cooler temperatures and leaves changing colors are not the only indicators that autumn has returned to the Owens Valley.
While hordes of photographers have gathered in the high country trying to capture the aspens at their peak in hues of red, orange and yellow, the thick annual infestation of tiny moths has once again hit the valley floor – actually preventing a similar fall color explosion among the lower-elevation foliage.
The Range of Light is currently in full “artist’s palette” mode thanks to leaves changing colors as their nutrients are slowly transferred to the roots so the plant can survive the winter and cold temperatures.
On the valley floor, however, the Cottonwood tree leaves are not really changing color; they’re full of holes and just turning brown, with a few yellow highlights.
John Smiley, entomologist and co-director of the White Mountain Research Station in Bishop, said the moths – in the midst of another heavy outbreak – are probably to blame for the Cottonwood leaves’ inability to change colors.
The Cottonwood leaf-blotch-miner moth (Phyllonorycter nipigon), of the North American genus of leaf-miner moths, is the tiny, cotton-like white flying pest that comes out at dusk to cover screen doors, fly annoyingly close to the face and stick to cars.
These same moths bore into Cottonwood tree leaves and lay eggs in spring, which are now hatching in the fall.
Smiley said the pattern seems to be that the moths will dissipate and disappear once the weather turns cold and the leaves fall. During the winter they hide in the thatch of fallen leaves and under homes, waiting for warmer temperatures and the new growth of leaves so they can return to their boring.
“From what I’ve seen, the moths are doing actual physical damage to the leaves,” Smiley explained Wednesday. He said that as the eggs hatch, the larvae feed on the inside of the leaves “The leaf just kind of dies off,” instead of releasing its nutrients to the roots, he said.
However, Smiley said that he was unsure whether this damage actually slows the tree growth, but it would seem likely. He added that Cottonwoods are incredibly resilient though, and “can suffer a lot damage” before finally dying.
Smiley has published results from his research in “Cottonwood leaf-blotch-miner moth project” conducted at the research station Owens Valley laboratory in 2004. Those results can be found at www.wmrs.edu/projects.
He said the moth is considered “invasive” but not because it is not native; rather, because it feeds off another living thing.
The “outbreak” of these moths does not seem to have a chronological or cyclical pattern as to predict their next swarm, Smiley said, but the outbreak does seem to come in phases.
He described the first phase as a year when the moths are hardly noticeable, followed by a huge outbreak that could last for years or even decades.
The moths are tough, too, being strong enough to hold on to the side window of a car traveling at more than 60 mph.
Smiley did not have too many suggestions for controlling or getting rid of the moths. “They’re so tiny and they hide everywhere.”
He said a pesticide applied to leaves may not get rid of the moths as the moths are actually within the leaves, not on the outside.
But, soon the temperatures will become cold, the leaves will fall and the moths will seemingly vanish, only to come back in the spring to lay eggs and then the big hatch in the fall.
As the leaves fade and fall, the gangs of photographers will soon fade as well, though the shutterbugs could be just piling on some extra layers of clothing in anticipation of their next visit to shoot the area’s equally-renowned winter scenes.
The first dusting of snow is still visible on the north slopes of the Sierra.
The National Weather Service Wednesday is forecasting snow for the mountains Friday and Saturday.
|
|
Last Updated ( Tuesday, 25 November 2008 )
|
|
|
|
