Recent attention has focused on the harmful effects of introduced biological control agents on nontarget species. The parasitoid Compsilura concinnata is a notable example of such biological control gone wrong. Introduced in 1906 primarily for control of gypsy moth, Lymantria dispar, this tachinid fly now attacks more than 180 species of native Lepidoptera in North America. While it did not pre...

Unraveling multiple layers of collective behavior outside the well-known isopteran and hymenopteran societies was a tall order for scientific community, especially in case gregarious juveniles Lepidoptera. Often protected with solid silk shelter, devoid reproductive division labor or conventional forms parental care, caterpillar aggregations have rarely been considered terms economic importance...

Long-term data sets, covering several decades, could help to reveal the effects of observed climate change on herbivore damage to plants. However, sufficiently long time series in ecology are scarce. The research presented here analyzes a long-term data set collected by the Hungarian Forest Research Institute over the period 1961-2009. The number of hectares with visible defoliation was estimat...

Scant attention has been paid to invasive species whose range and abundance has decreased after an initial range expansion. One such species is the browntail moth Euproctis chrysorrhoea L, which was discovered in the eastern United States in 1897. Its range expanded until 1914; after 1915, however, its range contracted and now it persists in only two isolated coastal locations. Although a biolo...

Scant attention has been paid to invasive species whose range and abundance has decreased after an initial range expansion. One such species is the browntail moth Euproctis chrysorrhoea L, which was discovered in the eastern United States in 1897. Its range expanded until 1914; after 1915, however, its range contracted and now it persists in only two isolated coastal locations. Although a biolo...

Scanning and transmission electron microscopy (SEM and TEM) revealed unique structures and development of the venomous spicules of tussock moth caterpillars of the genus Euproctis: (1) Flower-like structure at the distal end and a longitudinal minute depression on the proximal subapical wall of these spicules were observed by SEM. This depression was revealed to be a small hole by TEM. (2) Duri...

The lepidopteran family Lymantriidae contains about 200 genera and about 2,500 described species, mostly from the Old World Tropics (DeWorms, 1983). Of the 46 recognized species and subspecies of Lymantriidae in North America, 30% are considered pests (Ferguson, 1978). The pest species include three introduced species which have become established in North America, the gypsy moth, Lymantria dis...