Spongy Moth

Lymantria dispar

Lymantria dispar, the gypsy moth, are moths in the family Erebidae. Lymantria dispar covers many subspecies, subspecies identification such as L. d. dispar or L. d. japonica leaves no ambiguity in identification. Lymantria dispar subspecies have a range which covers in Europe, Africa, Asia, North America and South America.
Gypsy Moth (Lymantria dispar) Caterpillar I hiked in my favorite forest in northwestern CT today. It's a dense, mesic forest in the highlands, which is part of the Berkshires. Today, the forest looked quite different. Most of the trees were defoliated, or in the process of becoming so. It was so uncharacteristically bright and hot in the woods, and all I could hear was the sound of caterpillar frass (poop) falling from the trees. There were gypsy moth caterpillars everywhere I looked - hardwood trees, low vegetation, conifers, on the ground, rocks, etc. They were everywhere. I hope the forest and its creatures can survive this devastation. What it usually looks like: https://www.jungledragon.com/image/67448/northwest_highlands_-_connecticut_usa.html I scraped as many egg masses off trees in this forest last autumn as I could. Here is a photo of a mass of dead moths that I took last fall- the females die after laying their eggs. I found hundreds of them: https://www.jungledragon.com/image/108637/female_gypsy_moths_-_lymantria_dispar.html Habitat: Mixed, mesic forest Today's photos: https://www.jungledragon.com/image/116812/gypsy_moth_lymantria_dispar_caterpillar.html https://www.jungledragon.com/image/116819/gypsy_moth_lymantria_dispar_caterpillar_damage.html https://www.jungledragon.com/image/116818/gypsy_moth_lymantria_dispar_caterpillars.html https://www.jungledragon.com/image/116817/gypsy_moth_lymantria_dispar_caterpillar.html https://www.jungledragon.com/image/116816/trees_defoliated_by_gypsy_moth_caterpillars_lymantria_dispar.html https://www.jungledragon.com/image/116814/gypsy_moth_lymantria_dispar_caterpillars.html https://www.jungledragon.com/image/116813/gypsy_moth_lymantria_dispar_caterpillars.html Geotagged,Gypsy moth,Lymantria dispar,Spring,United States,caterpillar,larva

Naming

Received the common name 'Spongy Moth' in 2022.

References:

Some text fragments are auto parsed from Wikipedia.

https://entsoc.org/news/press-releases/spongy-moth-approved-new-common-name-lymantria-dispar?fbclid=IwAR0IIzkyQzINvhvbQvZFmrpRSHbhjqRYZCdSnexyelOr33TPMraZLReRGSs
Taxonomy
KingdomAnimalia
DivisionArthropoda
ClassInsecta
OrderLepidoptera
FamilyErebidae
GenusLymantria
SpeciesL. dispar
Photographed in
Bulgaria
Greece
Netherlands
United States of America