Diario del proyecto Forest Pests of Nova Scotia

May 2022 Journal
Happy Spring! As our temperatures slowly warm up the insects of our forests are becoming more and more active. Many species that may have overwintered as tiny larvae are beginning to feed once again; adults within pupae that remained safe and warm within the forest floor are preparing to emerge and egg masses that survived the wintry blasts are starting to hatch.
We want to take a moment to thank all our project members and iNaturalist participants for their numerous observations during our first year. As of today, you have submitted over 2500 observations of forest pest species. All submissions aid in our understanding of species distribution and seasonal occurrence. For example, observations have extended the known flight period of the whitemarked tussock moth in the province by almost a month. The data has also indicated a potential population increase of the same species along the Digby shore, information not previously collected in our annual surveys for this species.
Submitted observations of invasive species, such as the hemlock woolly adelgid, emerald ash borer and the beech leaf mining weevil, by community science contributors enhance our own monitoring efforts and help reinforce our distribution data for these species. It is hoped that these observations can also alert us to or provide early detection of new invasive species. This was the case in 2020 when numerous observations reported the presence of adult browntail moths at porch lights in Cumberland County and southwestern Nova Scotia. These reports resulted in a 2021 spring egg search to find evidence of establishment of this pest. Thankfully no eggs were detected.

As we step into year two of our project, we look forward to expanding our species list as well as highlighting several forest pest species over the course of the year. Our continued engagement with iNaturalist will help to provide a better understanding of forest pest species and their presence throughout the province.
For additional information on forest pests of Nova Scotia, please check out our Pests of the Acadian Forest Field Guide at:
https://novascotia.ca/natr/woodlot/pdf/Woodlot-Field-Guide-to-Pests-of-the-Acadian-Forest.pdf
Please forward any questions related to this project to forest.health@novascotia.ca

First off, we want to thank everyone who has joined our iNaturalist Project and submitted images of the forest pests that they’ve encountered this year. Our project has gathered over 2000 observations, on over 25 species from across the province. This information adds to our knowledge of where forest pests are being found and, in some cases, provides additional information on their biology. For example, our annual aerial survey had previously detected white marked tussock moth (WTM) from areas north of Truro where the pest is doing damage in pockets of hardwood and balsam fir. Through your observations it also appears that there are WMT populations in the western Annapolis valley into Digby areas. Multiple observations from single sites provide added information such as detailed knowledge on the flight of a particular moth or the early detection of reoccurring spring larva. In the case of WMT, observations this year increased our knowledge of when moth flight is occurring.

A big shout out to dbmcc09 in Cape Breton for observing the most pest species so far this year and to md-in-ns15 from Cape Sable Island for reporting the most pest observations.

As fall arrives a lot of the insects, including many of our forest pests, are not as visible in parks and woodlands across the province. Caterpillars have finished eating and most moths have laid all their eggs and are no longer lingering at our porch lights. But where do our forest pests go during the winter?
Insects have developed numerous strategies to survive our winters. With less food around and colder temperatures, most insects enter a stage of dormancy to survive. Many like the white marked tussock, the balsam fir sawfly and the Lymantria dispar (LD) moth (formally Gypsy moth) overwinter as eggs. Others such as spruce budworm survive as a tiny 2nd instar larva on the needles of it hosts. Wood boring insects such as spruce bark beetles or emerald ash borer also overwinter as larvae but are protected under the bark of their hosts trees. And then while others lay dormant in a cocoon or warm under leaf litter or tree bark, the hemlock woolly adelgid wakes up in early winter and feeds until spring.

Join us over the course of the fall and winter as we will explore the lives of a few of our forest pests. We will discuss how they survive the winter, how they may have impacted our forests over the past year and what to be on the look out for in the coming months. For additional information you can check out our Pest of the Acadian Forest Guide at:
https://novascotia.ca/natr/woodlot/pdf/Woodlot-Field-Guide-to-Pests-of-the-Acadian-Forest.pdf

The purpose of this project is to track forest pests found in Nova Scotia. This information will aid scientists in detecting the occurrence of both native and invasive pest species and gain a better understanding of their distribution and potential abundance.
Each year Nova Scotia’s forest are damaged by a number of insect pests and diseases, as well as various abiotic agents (e.g. frost, wind, drought, flooding). Damage from these forest pests and abiotic agents can slow tree growth, impact tree health, and lead to tree mortality or death.
While natural disturbances occur from these damaging pests, they are also a source of food for wildlife and other insects. In contrast, there are many other insects considered beneficial which provide various ecological roles including decomposition, nutrient recycling, and pollination. The aim of this project is to raise the awareness of the threat from damaging invasive and native forest pests.
As a member of this project you are a community scientist, and a valuable source of information to those of us interested in various forest pest insects. A community scientist, or citizen scientist is a member of the general public, who helps scientists by contributing to research projects. When you report a forest pest species to our iNaturalist project, you become part of the citizen science community.
So far, our fledgling iNaturalist project has already collected over 1700 observations of 24 of the 34 species that we have identified as forest pests. As our project matures our plan is to expand our list to include pests of specific hosts plants or pests of concern, past and present and closely monitor for potential new invasive pests that may threaten the trees of our yards, parks and forests.

Regularly we will be highlighting a forest pest species to provide our valued members with a better understanding of the species they have been reporting. We thank you for your observations and for contributing to the Forest Pests of Nova Scotia iNaturalist project.
Please forward any questions to forest.health@novascotia.ca