Moths On The Move- With A Tail Of Destruction

Gypsy moths are an invasive species of moth, introduced to the United States in 1868 by a French scientist named Leopold Trouvelot.  Trouvelot was trying to  make a hybrid of a native silk-spinning caterpillar species and the gypsy moth.  The reason he wanted to make a hybrid because the native species of silk-spinning caterpillars was susceptible to disease.  The gypsy moth was immune to disease so Trouvelot he thought that it would be a good idea to create a hybrid.

While attempting to create the hybrid, a few of the gypsy moths escaped his laboratory.  The moths found an acceptable habitat and started to reproduce.  The moths, now, one of the most infamous pests of the Eastern United States.  Once they deforest an area, they migrate towards a new feeding ground.

The gypsy moths have no natural enemys, so their population has been steadily increasing for as long as they have been in the U.S. 

The gypsy moth caterpillar has an malignant affect on the hardwood trees of the northeastern region of the U.S.  They eat the leaves of the trees, which prevent them from producing food.  In New Jersery, these pest have deforested about 339,240 acres of forest.

The New Jersey department of Agriculture has orchestrated an arial spray program to help decrease the population of gypsy moth caterpillars.  By doing this, less trees will suffer from the adverse affects of the gypsy moth caterpillars.
They had a similar problem in  New Zealand.  What they did to prevent what is now happening in the U.S., is that they eradicated the species before it started to thrive.  If they did that here, there woulldn't be this problem.

This situation allows people to see what can happen if you don't  take the necessary precautions to prevent something bad from happening.  If we were able to fix this problem early on, there wouldn't be anything to worry about.

   

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gypsy_moth

http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2008/07/gypsy_moths_devour_new_jersey.html