Friendly flies
-
- July
- 31
These flies are not from the government, but they are here to help you. Or they were, if their short lives haven’t already expired. I heard a quick mention of friendly flies on the radio the other day and had to look up more information. Turns out their numbers are tied to the population of tent caterpillars  the caterpillars that spin gauzy cocoons in your trees and then eat all the leaves.
Anyway, a rumor seems to persist that the government releases friendly flies to control tent caterpillar populations. To dispel that bit of misinformation, the state Department of Environmental Conservation puts this on their Web page about the flies: The DEC did NOT release these flies.
The flies attack the cocoons. More cocoons means more flies, which, probably, results in fewer adult caterpillars the next year.
Here’s a newspaper story about the whole thing.
This entry was posted
on Tuesday, July 31st, 2007 at 2:06 pm by Mike Risinit.
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Journal News staff writer Greg Clary writes Earth Watch, reporting on environmental issues in the lower Hudson region. Clary has been a reporter, editor and columnist at the Journal News since 1988 and has covered police and courts, transportation, municipal government, development and the environment in the Lower Hudson Valley, among other topics. 
Laura Incalcaterra covers the environment, open space and zoning and planning issues for The Journal News. A Boston College graduate, Laura grew up in Rockland, attended East Ramapo schools and has worked for The Journal News since 1993. Laura has written features and covered North Rockland, crime, government and a host of other issues.
Mike Risinit covers Patterson and Kent in Putnam County, as well as environmental topics touching on the Hudson River and the Great Swamp. Risinit has been a reporter at The Journal News since 1998.
