Every year since our initial release in 2014, the Hypena opulenta population in Ottawa has grown and spread from the release site on the Experimental Farm. In 2016, it was first spotted in the Dominion Arboretum. In 2017, damage was seen at Hog's Back Park. This year, we have seen damage in the Fletcher Wildlife Garden. Mostly these sightings have been a few holes in leaves, rather than large aggregations of caterpillars causing substantial leaf damage. This summer (2018), however, we are starting to see larger concentrations of feeding damage in a few isolated areas, slowly approaching the population levels we will need if Hypena is to have a negative impact on DSV.
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