Moths are a group of insects that includes all members of the order Lepidoptera that are not butterflies. They were previously classified as suborder Heterocera, but the group is paraphyletic with respect to butterflies and neither subordinate taxon is used in modern classifications. Moths make up the vast majority of the order. There are approximately 160,000 species of moth, many of which have yet to be described. Most species of moth are nocturnal, although there are also crepuscular and diurnal species.
Biological control or biocontrol is a method of controlling pests, whether pest animals such as insects and mites, weeds, or pathogens affecting animals or plants by using other organisms. It relies on predation, parasitism, herbivory, or other natural mechanisms, but typically also involves an active human management role. It can be an important component of integrated pest management (IPM) programs.
The Lymantriinae are a subfamily of moths of the family Erebidae. The taxon was erected by George Hampson in 1893.
Orgyia leucostigma, the white-marked tussock moth, is a moth in the family Erebidae. The species was first described by James Edward Smith in 1797. The caterpillar is very common especially in late summer in eastern North America, extending as far west as Texas, California, and Alberta.
Mating disruption (MD) is a pest management technique designed to control certain insect pests by introducing artificial stimuli that confuse the individuals and disrupt mate localization and/or courtship, thus preventing mating and blocking the reproductive cycle. It usually involves the use of synthetic sex pheromones, although other approaches, such as interfering with vibrational communication, are also being developed.
Glyptapanteles is a genus of endoparasitoid wasps found in all continents, except Antarctica. The larvae of Glyptapanteles species are able to manipulate their hosts into serving as bodyguards.
Tachina fera is a species of fly in the genus Tachina of the family Tachinidae. It was first described by Carl Linnaeus in 1761.
A pheromone trap is a type of insect trap that uses pheromones to lure insects. Sex pheromones and aggregating pheromones are the most common types used. A pheromone-impregnated lure, as the red rubber septa in the picture, is encased in a conventional trap such as a bottle trap, Delta trap, water-pan trap, or funnel trap. Pheromone traps are used both to count insect populations by sampling, and to trap pests such as clothes moths to destroy them.
Lymantria mathura, the rosy gypsy moth, is a species of moth of the family Erebidae found in the Russian Far East, Nepal, Japan, the Korean Peninsula, northern India and China. The species was first described by Frederic Moore in 1866.
The gypsy moth, also known as the spongy moth, was introduced in 1868 into the United States by Étienne Léopold Trouvelot, a French scientist living in Medford, Massachusetts. Because native silk-spinning caterpillars were susceptible to disease, Trouvelot imported the species in order to breed a more resistant hybrid species. Some of the moths escaped, found suitable habitat, and began breeding. The gypsy moth is now a major pest of hardwood trees in the Eastern United States.
The gypsy moth, an invasive species from Eurasia, was discovered in New Zealand. The gypsy moth has potentially disastrous effects on New Zealand agriculture; an intensive eradication programme was planned and undertaken, and the moth did not become established.
Compsilura concinnata is a parasitoid native to Europe that was introduced to North America in 1906 to control the population of an exotic forest, univoltine, spongy moth named Lymantria dispar. It is an endoparasitoid of larvae and lives with its host for most of its life. Eventually the parasitoid ends up killing the host and occasionally eating it. It attacks over 200 host species, mainly insects from the Orders: Coleoptera, Lepidoptera and Hymenoptera. Since this parasite has the ability to attack many different types of hosts, the organism has spilled over from the intended forest systems into other areas, like agricultural fields, affecting cabbage pests including the cabbage looper (Trichoplusia); the cabbage worm ; and even other invasive species such as the brown-tail moth. However, it also attacks native, non-pest insects such as the Cecropia moth and American moon moth.
Lymantria dispar asiatica, the LDA moth or Asian spongy moth, also known as the Asian gypsy moth, is a moth in the family Erebidae of Eurasian origin. It is similar to Lymantria dispar dispar in appearance, but adult females can fly. It is classified as a pest and is host to over 500 species of trees, shrubs and plants.
Lymantria dispar dispar, commonly known as the gypsy moth, European gypsy moth, LDD moth, or North American gypsy moth or spongy moth, is a species of moth in the family Erebidae. It has a native range that extends over Europe and parts of Africa, and is an invasive species in North America.
Lymantria dispar japonica, also known as the Japanese gypsy moth, is a moth in the family Erebidae of Eurasian origin.
Lymantria dispar multicapsid nuclear polyhedrosis virus or LdMNPV is a viral infection in spongy moths that causes infected larvae to die and disintegrate. Infected larvae climb to the top of a tree and die. The larvae then melt or disintegrate, falling onto the foliage below, where they infect more larvae.
Entomophaga maimaiga is a Japanese fungus which has shown striking success in managing spongy moth populations in North America.
John Douglas Tothill DSc, CMG, was an English-born entomologist, agriculturalist and civil servant, whose career took him to Canada, Fiji, Uganda and the Sudan. He was the son of Walter Tothill and Frances L. Williams.
Ann E. Hajek is an American entomologist with a focus in insect-microbe interactions. She was a professor of entomology at Cornell University from 1994 to 2024.
Xyleborus dispar is a species of bark beetle commonly called the Pear blight beetle, or the European shothole borer. It is an invasive species in North America, and can be a pest in orchards and forests throughout its range.
