Where did gypsy moths come from?
The gypsy moth was brought to North America by Professor L. Trouvelot when he tried to breed a hardy silkworm. Between 1868 and 1869 some gypsy moths escaped when a specimen jar fell from Trouvelot’s open window. Later, more moths and caterpillars escaped from small populations growing on shrubs in Trouvelot’s garden when high winds blew off protective netting. The professor notified townspeople about the accidents, but nobody thought the gypsy moth was a pest and no one captured or destroyed the escaped insects. The insects soon multiplied in a vacant lot next to Trouvelot’s home in Medford Massachusetts. Gypsy Moths. By the early 1900s, feeding upon many tree species in the Northeast, and with no natural predators, they had spread to eastern New York and New Jersey. By 1981 the species had traveled west through 46 counties in Pennsylvania; that same year they stripped millions of tress and vines in 800,000 acres of New Jersey. Q: How destructive is the gypsy moth? A: The gypsy moth,
