Aug. 3—The caterpillars may look fuzzy, but do not touch them. That’s the advice the U.S. Forest Service has for people camping in central and northern New Mexico.
Douglas-fir tussock moth caterpillar numbers have soared in the Santa Fe National Forest, enough for the Forest Service to call it an outbreak and to close two group shelters at Hyde Memorial State Park, located just eight miles northeast of Santa Fe.
Tussock moth caterpillars look ready for a parade with distinctive white tufts, bright red spots and dense bunches of black hair.
“They have thousands of little, tiny hairs, and those hairs get stuck in your skin and start to irritate your skin,” said Park Ranger Heather Molleur. “To me it feels like fiberglass, like if I rubbed up against fiberglass.”
Some people have no reaction to caterpillar contact, but others get itchy red skin, develop hives or have trouble breathing.
The caterpillars are in such abundance at Hyde Memorial State Park that they might fall from a tree overhead or start climbing up a pant leg, with the mistaken belief that a person is a tree, Molleur said. The heavy caterpillar activity was first spotted around July 8 and is expected to drop by Aug. 15.
The outbreak is affecting Black Canyon Campground in the Española Ranger District, and Carson and Cibola national forests are also experiencing high numbers.
Carson National Forest announced Friday that an outbreak was happening along N.M. 518 on the High Road to Taos. The Carson National Forest outbreak covers 3,000 acres between Pot Creek and U.S. Hill.
In mid-July, the Sandia Ranger District notified the public that trees on the eastern slopes of the Sandia Mountains south of the Crest Highway might look discolored because of defoliation from a caterpillar outbreak.
The species is native to New Mexico, but usually their numbers are relatively few. On average, every eight to 12 years there is an outbreak of tussock moths, Molleur said. This year, the Forest Service believes extra moisture is responsible for the outbreak.
An outbreak was reported in the Cibola National Forest in 2022, causing concern for the health of Douglas fir, white fir and ponderosa pine trees. Tussock moth larvae eat needles, defoliating the trees and turning them brown.
Because of the outbreak, many trees near Hyde Memorial Park are brown and look ill. As the caterpillars eat the needles, needles turn brown or fall off the trees. Trees that are up to 80% defoliated may look dead, but usually recover.
“They all look really dead and sad, but they will recover, and any trees that don’t recover we’ll be doing a hazard assessment and be taking care of those. But most of the trees in the park should recover,” Molleur said.
Hazardous trees will be cut down and removed from the park to make sure they don’t fall on campsites or people, Molleur said.
By mid-August, the caterpillars will have moved on to the next phase of their life cycle: cocooning and turning into moths.
The cocooning has already started in Hyde Memorial State Park. There are cocoons all over the park, Molleur said. The moths usually start to cocoon in late July and continue through August, according to a USDA guide.
The female moths do not have wings, so all the flying moths will be male. Female moths will stay by their cocoons, where they lay eggs that will stay in place all winter and hatch next spring and summer.
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