Keep a close eye on your trees and shrubbery.

Gypsy moths are making a comeback, and the little caterpillars are bringing along their big appetites.To combat this growing nuisance, the Carbon County commissioners have decided to participate in the 2015 Gypsy Moth Suppression Program through the Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, Bureau of Forestry, Division of Forest Pest Management. The county has not had to participate in this program since 2009.On Thursday, the board voted to approve an agreement with DCNR to participate in the program's spraying. The total cost to spray 774 acres that were determined to be gypsy moth problem sites is $26 per acre for a total of $20,124. Of that total, 610 acres is Mauch Chunk Lake Park property and will cost the county $15,860. The remaining 164 acres is private residents who qualified to be part of the spraying, and they will share the $4,264 balance.Commissioner Thomas J. Gerhard said spraying of the infested areas will take place in May and June.The county has been looking at the program since mid-2014, when David Horvath, director of Mauch Chunk Lake Park and the person in charge of the gypsy moth program, reported that park crews identified an "outbreak population" of gypsy moths at the lake in late spring."We noticed an explosion of gypsy moths in the park, particularly in the camping areas," Horvath previously told the commissioners.Crews noticed defoliation on the south side of the lake along the north face of the mountain, extending from the power lines to roughly around the dam area.In July 2014, the commissioners sent a letter to the state stating the county's intention to participate in the 2015 suppression program.Following that action, Horvath began examining the area around the lake to see if it would qualify. The county also asked landowners who were experiencing problems with gypsy moths and who would like to participate in the spraying next spring to call.Horvath said that 25 landowners called, and 15 properties qualified for inclusion in the program.To qualify, a property had to have 250 egg masses per acre, and be either forested residential, forested recreational, forested special use or a public water supply.Horvath said that of the 15 properties that qualify for the program, the highest egg mass per acre was 2,000.Areas around Mauch Chunk Lake Park also had egg masses near 1,700 per acre.The exact number of acres that will be sprayed has yet to be determined by the state.The suppression program isn't meant to eradicate the gypsy moths but rather suppress the "outbreak populations.""We haven't seen gypsy moths of this magnitude in many years," Horvath said last year, noting that there will always be gypsy moths present in the environment.If the county chose to do nothing, Horvath said it could have had a "devastating effect" on forests.Trees that were being defoliated would tap into their food reserves to put on a second growth of leaves. This would leave them stressed for the winter months. They will also begin to die back at the tops of the branches,leaving them susceptible to insect attacks anddisease.After a few years of defoliation, tree mortality would result.The gypsy moth, or Lymantria dispar, has been a pest to the northeastern United States since being introduced from Europe to Massachusetts in 1869, DCNR reports.The bug was first discovered in Pennsylvania in 1932, when it was found living in Luzerne and Lackawanna counties.It is typically known to homeowners in its larval stage as a caterpillar.During the bug's life cycle, a female lays 400 to 600 eggs, which hatch in late April.The caterpillars then feed on foliage as they mature. Highly favored species include apple, aspen, basswood, beech, birches, box elder, hawthorn, larch, oaks, willows and witch hazel trees.By late June or early July, gypsy moth caterpillars burrow into tree trunks and create pupas, where they will remain for about two weeks. They will then emerge as adults by late July.After decades of dealing with the pests, DCNR's Bureau of Forestry created the suppression program in 1968, which has helped cut down on the amount of damage caused by these insects.