Will spraying for gypsy moth or other forest pests harm Karner blue butterflies?
It is possible that Karner blues can be harmed by spraying for forest pests such as gypsy moths. The commercially available insecticides that are used for controlling forest pests are known to kill Karner blue larvae and will adversely affect Karner blues if they are in the same spray block. The HCP program recognizes that some Karner blue populations may be lost to spraying to control gypsy moth or other forest pests; these losses are expected to be small. Measures are being taken by the HCP partners to protect the butterfly in areas where recovery efforts are focused. What can you do if you want to conserve Karner blue butterflys but also want to use an insecticide to prevent damage from gypsy moth or another forest pest? The following suggestions can be used by private landowners to minimize impacts to Karner blues in the course of an insecticide treatment to manage forest pests such as gypsy moth. Some of these can be used to minimize impacts of spraying on other species of moths a
