Regina expecting an increase of Cankerworms, other insects

Regina residents will be seeing more insects around the city this summer.

The City of Regina said they are expecting an increase in the number of Cankerworms and expect the high number of Tent caterpillars from last year to remain around the same.

Russell Eirich, manager of forestry, pest control and horticulture with the city, said according to their initial counts that around 10,000 trees will be affected by Cankerworms.

Last year, about 1,500 trees were treated for Cankerworms.

While it is quite an increase, it’s a far cry from how bad the worms were back in 2010.

“We had to spray something like 35,000 or 36,000 trees,” Eirich said.

In 2016, around 7,000 trees were treated for Tent worms.

The insects eat the leaves off of the trees and can leave them bare.

The city in encouraging people to band their trees in order to stop Cankerworms from laying their eggs up in the trees.

Eirich said one of the reasons numbers could be increasing is due to a mild winter.

“When you don’t get too many cold days in the winter time, it will certainly help insects out.”

Shawn Sherwood, branch manager of Poulin’s Pest Control in Regina, echoed that statement.

“When we have a really mild winter, they tend to see less winter mortality in these insects,” Sherwood said.

Sherwood said people are seeing more maple bugs out this time of the year because there isn’t any foliage on the trees quite yet.

He also said another pest has made its first appearance for the year.

“The first wood tick arrived in my office today.”

He said the ticks aren’t usually seen until May.