Is the abundance of insects unusual? Updates from around the state with picking and weather impacts.
Observation by Lars Flora:
We traveled out to Alaskan range and were picking low bush cloudberries. I started to notice numerous orange worms at the top of the buckets and on the berries. My family has picked many berries and this was the most we have seen on the berries. The question to our group, "Was it unusual or normal?" Other questions came up such as "What has the rain and cold weather done for the berries and timing?"
Comment by Katie Spellman:
We just conducted a literature review and series of listening sessions on berries in a changing climate in Alaska. People all over the state are noticing increased insect damage on the berry species. We just finished our sweet publication on cloudberry that summarizes the impacts of a changing climate on the different parts of a cloudberry plant's life, from leaves photosynthesizing to pollination.
Comment by Derek Sikes:
Looks like a moth caterpillar, probably a species in the large family Geometridae. I have no idea which species, or what abundance is normal for these, sorry.