BANGOR DAILY NEWS • October 13, 2024
Browntail moths, whose invasive caterpillars have tiny rash-causing hairs that strike fear into Maine summers, did not have a good year here. The state found the caterpillars seemed to have had a more “sporadic population” across the state this year than in the past, a Maine Forest Service newsletter said on Thursday. They were recorded in more than 46,000 acres of the state in 2023, and harm forests as well as humans. Their more scattered populations this year are likely because of pathogens that attack the caterpillars, the state said.