The Washington State Department of Agriculture annual gypsy moth summer trapping program is under way once again.

In San Juan County, 875 traps will be put in place. San Juan has the 10th highest trap number of any county in the state.

By the end of July more than 22,000 small cardboard traps will be placed around the state, checked every two to three weeks during the summer, and taken down in September. Traps will be placed in all 39 counties.

Washington has never had a permanent population of the gypsy moth, the worst forest pest ever brought into the U.S. 19 states in the East and Midwest are not so fortunate. Thousands of acres in those states are permanently infested.

The gypsy moth attacks more than 500 species of trees and plants. In its caterpillar form the pest quickly strips trees and plants of leaves, destroying some and weakening others so they are susceptible to plant diseases.

The caterpillar also destroys wildlife habitat, degrades water quality and triggers costly quarantines of timber, agriculture, and nursery products.

Jamie De Fore, trapping coordinator for San Juan County, is looking forward to the coming trapping season. “We’ve kept this pest out of the state for 36 years,” he said. “We want that record to continue.”

The number of gypsy moths caught annually in Washington varies widely. The largest number caught was 1,315 in 1983, and the smallest number in the last 30 years was 17 in 2002. Last year 18 moths were caught.

For more information on Washington’s gypsy moth control program, call the gypsy moth hotline at (800) 443-6684 or visit the agency’s website at www.agr.wa.gov/PlantsInsects/InsectPests/GypsyMoth.