{{Short description|Species of moth}} {{Redirect|Gypsy moth|other uses|Gypsy moth (disambiguation)}} {{Speciesbox | image = Lymantria dispar MHNT.CUT.2012.0.357 Col de Cricheto Bastelica male Dos.jpg | image_caption = Mounted ''Lymantria dispar dispar'' male | image2 = Lymantria dispar MHNT.CUT.2012.0.357 Claix (Isère) Female Dos.jpg | image2_caption = Mounted ''Lymantria dispar'' female | status = G5 | status_system = TNC | status_ref = <ref>{{cite NatureServe |id=2.117138 |title=''Lymantria dispar'' |access-date=23 October 2025}}</ref> | genus = Lymantria | species = dispar | authority = (Linnaeus, 1758) | synonyms = *''Phalaena dispar'' <small>Linnaeus, 1758</small> *''Ocneria dispar'' <small>(Linnaeus, 1758)</small> *''Porthetria dispar'' <small>(Linnaeus, 1758)</small> | subdivision_ranks = Subspecies | subdivision_ref = | subdivision = ''L. d. dispar''<br/> ''L. d. asiatica''<br/> ''L. d. japonica'' }} thumb|A ''L. dispar'' caterpillar
'''''Lymantria dispar''''', also known as the '''gypsy moth'''<ref>[https://www.ukmoths.org.uk/species/lymantria-dispar/distribution-map/ Gypsy Moth ''Lymantria dispar'' at UK Moths]</ref><ref>{{cite web | title=Bug experts seeking new name for destructive gypsy moths | website=king5.com | date=July 9, 2021 | url=https://www.king5.com/article/news/nation-world/new-name-for-gypsy-moths/507-2d2e3910-d66f-4c7b-802e-056882558104 | access-date=July 10, 2021}}</ref> or the '''spongy moth''',<ref name=entsoc2022>{{cite web|date=January 25, 2022|title="Spongy Moth" Proposed as New Common Name for Lymantria Dispar|url=https://entsoc.org/news/press-releases/spongy-moth-proposed-new-common-name-lymantria-dispar|website=entsoc.org}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title='Spongy Moth' Adopted as New Common Name for Lymantria dispar |url=https://entsoc.org/news/press-releases/spongy-moth-approved-new-common-name-lymantria-dispar |website=Entomological Society of America |access-date=3 March 2022}}</ref> is a species of moth in the family Erebidae native to Europe and Asia. ''Lymantria dispar'' is subdivided into several subspecies, with subspecies such as ''L. d. dispar'' and ''L. d. japonica'' being clearly identifiable without ambiguity. ''Lymantria dispar'' has been introduced to several continents and is now additionally found as an invasive species in Africa, North America and South America. The polyphagous larvae live on a variety of deciduous and coniferous trees<ref>[ftp://ftp.fao.org/docrep/fao/011/i0640e/i0640e10.pdf FAO - Profiles of selected forest pests]{{dead link|date=May 2025|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}</ref> and can cause severe damage in years of mass reproduction. Due to these features, ''Lymantria dispar'' is listed among the world's 100 worst invasive alien species.<ref name=100WW>{{cite web|url=http://www.iucngisd.org/gisd/100_worst.php |url-status=live |title=100 of the World's Worst Invasive Alien Species|publisher=Global Invasive Species Database |access-date=5 September 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304230622/http://www.iucngisd.org:80/gisd/100_worst.php |archive-date=2016-03-04 }}</ref>
==Etymology==
The etymology of "gypsy moth" is not conclusively known; however, the term is known to have been in use (as 'Gipsey') as early as 1832.<ref>Renie, J. 1832. ''A conspectus of the butterflies and moths found in Britain'': {{BHL page|42183122|39}}.</ref>
Moths of the subfamily Lymantriinae are commonly called tussock moths due to the tussock-like tufts of hair on the caterpillars.<ref name=USDA>The Gypsy Moth: Research Toward Integrated Pest Management, United States Department of Agriculture, 1981</ref>{{rp|9}}
The name ''Lymantria dispar'' is composed of two Latin-derived words. The generic name ''Lymantria'' means 'destroyer'.<ref>[http://www.thefreedictionary.com/Lymantria Free Dictionary for Lymantria]</ref> The species epithet ''dispar'' means 'to separate' in Latin; it refers to the sexual dimorphism observed in the male and female imagines.<ref name=USDA />{{rp|9}}
In July 2021 the Entomological Society of America decided to remove the name "gypsy moth" from its Common Names of Insects and Related Organisms List as "hurtful to the Romani people", since ''gypsy'' is considered an ethnic slur by some Romani people especially in the United States where the moth is widespread.<ref name="ESAnames">{{cite web |title = Entomological Society of America Discontinues Use of Gypsy Moth, Ant Names |url = https://www.entsoc.org/entomological-society-america-discontinues-use-gypsy-moth-ant-names |publisher = Entomological Society of America |access-date = 8 July 2021}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Doubek |first=James |date=2021-07-10 |title=Insect Experts Will Change The Name Of The 'Gypsy Moth' And 'Gypsy Ant' |language=en |work=npr |url=https://www.npr.org/2021/07/10/1014787096/insect-experts-will-change-the-name-of-the-gypsy-moth-and-gypsy-ant |access-date=2021-07-22}}</ref> In January 2022, the new common name "spongy moth" was proposed, as a translation from the French name "spongieuse" for the species, referring to the sponge-like egg masses laid by ''L. dispar''.<ref name=entsoc2022/>
==Taxonomy== The European native, and introduced North American, ''L. dispar'' moths are considered to be the same subspecies, ''L. d. dispar''.<ref name=review />{{rp|6}} Confusion over the classification of species and subspecies exists. The U. S. Department of Agriculture defines the Asian subspecies as "any biotype of ''L. dispar'' possessing female flight capability",<ref name=review />{{rp|5}} despite ''L. d. asiatica'' not being the only accepted subspecies that is capable of flight.<ref name=review />{{rp|6}} Traditionally, ''L. dispar'' has been referred to as "gypsy moth" even when referring to Japanese, Indian and Asiatic populations.<ref name=review>{{cite web | url=http://www.fs.fed.us/foresthealth/technology/pdfs/Pogue_Lymantria_web.pdf | title=A review of selected species of ''Lymantria'' Huber [1819] | publisher=Forest Health Technology Enterprise Team | access-date=September 14, 2012 | author=Pogue, Michael}}</ref>{{rp|5}}
=== Subspecies === {| class="wikitable" |- ! Subspecies !! Distribution !! Identifying characteristics |- |''L. d. dispar'' || Europe, western Asia and north Africa,<ref name=review />{{rp|6}} introduced to Eastern North America ||Females winged but flightless<ref name=review />{{rp|6}} |- |''L. d. asiatica'' || Eastern Asia,<ref name=review />{{rp|6}} introduced to western North America and to Europe<ref name="pest">{{cite web | url=http://pest.ceris.purdue.edu/pest.php?code=ITAXQBA | title=Asian Gypsy Moth Lymantria dispar asiatica | publisher=Pest Tracker National Agricultural Pest Information System | access-date=September 14, 2012}}</ref> || Females winged and capable of flight; attracted to lights<ref name=review />{{rp|6}} |- |''L. d. japonica'' || All of Japan<ref name=review />{{rp|6}} ||Large males, very dark brown<ref name=review />{{rp|6}} |}
The European subspecies (''L. d. dispar'') is native to temperate forests in western Europe. It had been introduced to the United States in 1869, and to Canada in 1912.
The Asian subspecies (''L. d. asiatica'') is native to temperate Asia east of the Ural mountains. Since the early 1990s it has also been detected along the West Coast of temperate North America. From Southern Europe it is spreading northwards into Germany and other countries, where it hybridizes with the European subspecies, ''L. d. dispar''.{{citation needed|date=September 2020}} A colony had been reported from Great Britain in 1995.{{citation needed|date=September 2020}}
==Biological pest control measures== ''Lymantria dispar'' was introduced into North America by artist and astronomer Étienne Léopold Trouvelot in 1869, who imported it from Europe while looking for a source of silk to replace the shortage of cotton caused by the American Civil War.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Simberloff |first=Daniel |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=o4dNEAAAQBAJ&pg=PA10 |title=Invasive Species: What Everyone Needs to Know |date=October 2013 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-992201-7 |language=en}}</ref> Since then, several species of parasitoids and predators have been introduced as biological control agents in attempts to help control this moth. Beginning in the late 1800s, at least ten species were established this way, but for nearly a century, there was little regulation or research on the effectiveness or non-target effects of these introduced natural enemies. Several were generalists that offered little control of ''L. dispar'' and attacked other native insects. One such species is the tachinid fly ''Compsilura concinnata'', which attacked many other host species (over 180 known hosts documented), laying waste many of the large moth species previously abundant in the Northeast.<ref>[https://www.science.org/content/article/biological-control-backfires Biological Control Backfires]</ref> Another is the encyrtid wasp ''Ooencyrtus kuvanae'' which attacks ''L. dispar'' eggs but also parasitizes the eggs of other Lepidoptera species.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Christenson |first1=Amy |title=Know Your Friends |url=http://www.entomology.wisc.edu/mbcn/kyf406.html |website=Midwest Biological Control News |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181126032637/http://www.entomology.wisc.edu/mbcn/kyf406.html |archive-date=26 November 2018 |date=June 1997}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Brown |first1=M. W. |title=Literature review of ''Ooencyrtus kuvanae'' [Hym.: Encyrtidae], an egg parasite of ''Lymantria dispar'' [Lep: Lymantriidae] |journal=Entomophaga |date=1984 |volume=29 |issue=3 |pages=249–265 |doi=10.1007/BF02372112|bibcode=1984BioCo..29..249B |s2cid=867738 }}</ref> The most effective control agents are microbial pathogens: a virus (LdmNPV), and a fungus (''Entomophaga maimaiga'').<ref>Tom W. Coleman, Laurel J. Haavik, Chris Foelker, Andrew M. Liebhold (2020) USDA Forest Insect & Disease Leaflet 162: Gypsy Moth</ref>
===Status in the United States=== In June 2024, the severity of the outbreak in the Northeast and Midwest of the United States was reported in ''Scientific American''. Some places in these regions were experiencing one of the most severe outbreaks ever recorded, with some areas reporting densities exceeding 2,500,000 caterpillars per hectare (1,000,000 per acre), and certain regions have been grappling with this issue for five consecutive years.{{cn|date=August 2024}}
Since the introduction of the species to North America, ''L. dispar'' has caused significant ecological damage. Its range has expanded at an average rate of {{convert|21|km|mi|abbr=on}} per year, resulting in the cumulative defoliation of {{convert|33,000,000|ha|acres|abbr=on}} of forest from 1970 to 2013. The U.S. Forest Service allocates an average annual budget of $30 million toward control efforts. However, climate change has contributed to longer outbreak cycles, which typically occur every eight to twelve years. This has led to a more frequent and severe impact on the environment.<ref>{{cite news |last=Teirstein |first=Zoya |url=https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/very-hungry-and-very-invasive-caterpillars-are-a-munching-through-u-s/ |title=Millions of Very Hungry Caterpillars Are Munching Their Way through U.S. Forests |work=Scientific American |date=2024-06-10 |access-date=2024-06-11 }}</ref>
Defoliation by ''L. dispar'' triggers chemical defenses in quaking aspen, rendering them unfit host trees for Polyphemus moths, posing an additional threat to that species' conservation.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Lindroth |first1=Richard L. |last2=Zierden |first2=Mark R. |last3=Morrow |first3=Clay J. |last4=Fernandez |first4=Patricia C. |date=2024-08-19 |title=Forest defoliation by an invasive outbreak insect: Catastrophic consequences for a charismatic mega moth |journal=Ecology and Evolution |volume=14 |issue=8 |article-number=e70046 |doi=10.1002/ece3.70046 |issn=2045-7758 |pmc=11331496 |pmid=39161623|bibcode=2024EcoEv..1470046L }}</ref>
==References== {{Reflist|32em}}
==External links== *{{Commons-inline}} *[https://www.ukmoths.org.uk/species/lymantria-dispar/ Gypsy moth on UKmoths] *[https://bugguide.net/node/view/8780 Bugguide.net] *[https://www.invasivespeciesinfo.gov/profile/european-gypsy-moth Species Profile: European Gypsy Moth (''Lymantria dispar'')] from the National Invasive Species Information Center, United States National Agricultural Library
{{Taxonbar|from=Q45532}} {{Authority control}}
Category:Lymantria dispar Category:Lymantria Category:Moths described in 1758 Category:Moths of Japan Category:Moths of Europe Category:Moths of North America Category:Moths of Asia Category:Naming controversies Category:Animal taxa named by Carl Linnaeus