PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • November 30, 2020
In recent years, Cape Elizabeth’s trees have been among the hardest hit by the non-native moth, which can turn tender leaves into see-through lace and killed 300 acres of the town’s venerable oaks. The town's tree warden and local land trust didn't band trees against the invasive winter moth, taking an 'observational year' to see if recent parasitoid fly releases are working. Since 2013, the Maine Forest Service has repeatedly introduced thousands of parasitoid flies as a biological control to combat widespread winter moth populations in Cape Elizabeth, South Portland, Portland, Peaks Island, Harpswell, Kittery, Vinalhaven and Boothbay. A parasitoid is an insect whose larvae kill their hosts.