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Article: WILL GYPSY MOTH CATERPILLARS DESTROY OUR SHADE TREES?
- Article from:
- The Washington Post
- Article date:
- April 22, 1988
CopyrightThis material is published under license from the Washington Post. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Washington Post. (Hide copyright information)
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---WILL GYPSY MOTH CATERPILLARS DESTROY OUR SHADE TREES?---
If you walk in a hardwood forest this year you may hear gypsy
moth caterpillars munching away. The insect has a huge appetite and
is the most serious enemy of hardwood trees in the eastern United
States. This year more than 2 million
acres will be defoliated. Native to Europe, the moth was brought
into the United States in 1869 by a French scientist working near
Boston. He was trying to create a new strain of silkworms. His
experiment failed but some of his caterpillars escaped, and ever
since we have been trying to halt the spread of the moths. Each year
they spread southward and over the next several decades the moths are ...