The Virginia Department of Forestry says gypsy moths are eating away at our state's trees at an alarming rate, including parts of the Valley.

The moths attacked more than 112,000 acres of forest in Virgina, an increase of nearly 40,000 acres from last year. Experts say Augusta County is taking the biggest hit.

Rodger Moyers, Virginia Department of Forestry, says, "Augusta County is the number one county in the state for defoliation this year. We have had almost 34,000 acres of defoliation this year."

The Department of Forestry says most trees can withstand at least one year of this defoliation. However, trees in the area have seen back to back years of severe damage, which can lead to the loss of many trees.

Moyer says this can lead to even bigger problems.

He states, "If you get a lot of dead trees in woods, it's going to be a fire hazard too and you're going to start having fires because you're going to have so much dead fuel build-up in the forest floor."

Experts say gypsy moth outbreaks occur in cycles.

Moyers says, "It's peaks and valleys. They go and come. The population fluctuates a bit."

If cool, wet weather occurs during their feeding period in May, many of the moths die because of a fungus or virus.

Moyers adds, "The virus didn't really have any affect this spring, so we will probably be doing a lot more spraying next year with airplanes in May, try to control them."

Experts say a wet spring next year would set up a gypsy moth population crash, which would benefit the area's forests. Egg mass surveys will be completed at the end of the summer to give officials a better idea of what can be expected next year.