Top Results for Defoliator

The pine tree lappet moth, Dendrolimus pini, is a large moth in the family Lasiocampidae. Its caterpillars feed on pine foliage, and high populations can cause extensive defoliation in pine forests, making the species important in forest health and plant protection. It is native across parts of Euro...

The nun moth (Lymantria monacha) is a Eurasian lymantriid moth known as a serious defoliator of conifer forests, with periodic outbreaks recorded across Central and Northern Europe since the 19th century.

Orgyia leucostigma, commonly called the white-marked tussock moth, is a North American moth in the family Erebidae. Its caterpillars have conspicuous tufts of hair and bristles, including irritating or urticating hairs that can cause skin reactions in some people. The larvae feed on a wide range of...

The eastern spruce budworm, Choristoneura fumiferana, is a tortricid moth native to North America. Its caterpillars feed mainly on balsam fir and white spruce, also using red and black spruce, and periodic outbreaks can defoliate extensive areas of boreal and northern forest. Several consecutive yea...

The moth historically called the gypsy moth, and now commonly called the spongy moth in North America, is Lymantria dispar, a species native to parts of Europe, Asia, and North Africa. Its caterpillars eat leaves from many trees, especially hardwoods, and can cause extensive defoliation. An accident...

The forest tent caterpillar moth (Malacosoma disstria) is a native North American moth in the family Lasiocampidae whose larvae feed on hardwoods such as aspen, birch, basswood, oak, maple, and ash. Populations rise in irregular cycles, commonly about every 10 to 16 years in some regions, and outbre...

Douglas-fir tussock moth is Orgyia pseudotsugata, a native North American species whose larvae feed on the needles of Douglas-fir, grand fir, and white fir. Populations periodically rise into regional outbreaks, commonly at intervals of about five to ten years in the western United States and southe...

The spongy moth (Lymantria dispar), known until 2021 as the gypsy moth, is a Eurasian tussock moth accidentally introduced to Massachusetts around 1869 by the French artist and amateur entomologist Étienne Trouvelot, who was experimenting with silk production. Its caterpillars defoliate oak and othe...