Monitor Gypsy Moth Populations for Slow the Spread Program

Kentucky will be participating in the Slow The Spread (STS) program during 2005 and the program shall be administered through the Office of State Entomologist in the Department of Entomology, University of Kentucky. Personnel involved with the program are Dr. John Obrycki, State Entomologist and Carl Harper and Joe Collins, Nursery Inspectors, a supervisor, trapping supervisor/data manager and three surveyors. For the 2005 program, the surveyors will be trapping in thirty-three (33) quadrangles, which will take in all or part of a nine (9) county area. The nine counties include: Lawrence, Boyd, Carter, Greenup, Lewis, Fleming, Mason, Elliott, and Rowan. All counties will be trapped using a 2 kilometer trapping grid. Kentucky will be using the Pocket PC and Magellan 315 GPS units for the STS survey following the STS protocols for entering the data. The Pocket PC will be the primary data collection device and the Magellan 315 will be used as a backup if the other should fail. The STS Foundation has established the procedures for data collection using the Pocket PC and will provide training and manuals. For data collection using the Magellan 315 this would include: Quad Code, Trap ID, Omit Reasons, Trap Condition, Moth Catch, Pass or Fail, Failure Reasons. These codes will be used at the proper time during the trapping season. All trap site visits require (if used) the Magellan 315 GPS unit to be stationary for at least 1 minute before pressing "MARK" to save the location. This allows for the unit to get a good "average" GPS location. For each site, a paper record will be filled out as a back up to the GPS file, with the UTM coordinates and the same information as placement, inspection, and quality control visits. Surveyors will be provided with a Pocket PC and Magellan 315 GPS unit, desktop computer for the GPS download, and all supplies need to do the survey properly. They must provide their own hammer and vehicle. We will be using the STS trapping protocol for the 2005 trapping season. However, Kentucky will not be navigating off road to the predetermined grid locations. They will stay on the highway system, for safety concerns, but they will get as close to the predetermined site as possible. The surveyors will submit to the Office of State Entomologist, travel vouchers for expenses incurred while doing the survey such as phone calls, postage, etc. They will also call and submit by mail the number of hours they have worked during the week. If a suspect moth is captured then the surveyor will mail it to the Office of State Entomologist for verification. If the moth is positive, then the surveyor will go to the area and place "delimiting" traps in the area to see if there are any more moths in that location. The Kentucky Slow the Spread Program will have a supervisor. The supervisor's duties will include trap placement (if necessary) and regular checks to make sure that the other surveyors are placing their traps properly and keeping accurate records. The supervisor will be the liaison between the trapper and the manager of the program, fielding questions and performing the tasks necessary for the surveyor to do their job properly. The supervisor will also download the Pocket PC or GPS units of the 3 surveyors and send them, via a laptop computer, to the Office of State Entomologist for reviewing and for correction of errors and then they will be forwarded to Virginia Tech. They will be downloading a minimum of once per week, the trap placement or a check on that trap during the season. Surveyors will be checking each other as part of the quality control to see that all are doing the job properly. Someone from the Office of State Entomologist for quality control will also monitor them periodically during the season. We will also have a trapping supervisor/data manager housed at the Office of State Entomologist. This person will be in charge of processing data, printing maps, checking for errors, ensuring each trap site was addressed (whether omitted, and why or placed), ensuring that each GPS location corresponds with the predetermined site, do quality control checks if necessary. All surveyors will have to attend the training session in Burlington, Kentucky prior to the trapping season. The training in Burlington, Kentucky will include proper trap making, trap sites, trap placement, use of the Pocket PC and GPS unit, proper data entry, and download procedure. They will also be given proper safety measures to help minimize or eliminate the risk of an accident. For Kentucky, vehicle safety is the number one issue because of the trapping using the road (no off road navigating). They will also receive training for proper record keeping and sending in proper paper work for getting paid. The data will be sent to Virginia Tech so that it can be run through their validation process and then placed on the STS website. The Office of State Entomologist will be the contact point if there are any problems that arise during the survey. We will also be in charge of printing maps and other information that will be useful in allowing the surveyor to navigate to the proper location.