Description:
Evaluation of Douglas-fir tussock moth, Orgyia pseudotsugata, egg
masses collected from an outbreak area in the lower Flathead Valley
indicated that overall egg viability was relatively high, egg
parasitism was low, and virus infestation averaged 7.1 percent northwest
of Polson, 17.9 percent south of St. Ignatius, and 57.0 percent
west of Ravalli. In the three areas, a total of 2,240 acres may be
visibly defoliated in 1975, and light defoliation may be scattered over
an additional 5,600 acres. The outbreak is expected to decline due
to natural causes by the end of 1975.