In 2016, over 350,000 acres of Massachusetts forests were defoliated by gypsy moths. In large numbers, they can completely defoliate trees and even forest understories. The caterpillars pose a threat to forests. “At their worst, the shady side of the trees were completely covered with caterpillars,” she said. In Windham, Connecticut, Judy Donnelly also saw a boom in the caterpillar population. “The fungus that usually kills the caterpillar was almost non-existent,” Faubert said.Īnd that means the gypsy moth has been thriving. But the fungus dies during prolonged drought, and the northeast has experienced unusually dry, early springs and dry, hot summers during the past three years. The main threat to the gypsy moth in North America is a Japanese fungus called Entomophaga maimaiga. Forest Service have been trying to control gypsy moth outbreaks and their spread across the country.

Since the late 19th century, states and the U.S. During his experiment, a few of the caterpillars escaped, changing American forests forever. Forest Service, Trouvelot was an amateur entomologist and was experimenting with cultivating the egg masses on trees in his yard. Nearly 150 years ago, an artist and astronomer named Etienne Leopold Trouvelot returned to Massachusetts from a trip to France with several gypsy moth egg masses. The moths are an invasive species in the United States. “The guy that works there said that the Christmas trees had terrible gypsy moths this year,” she wrote. Lili Maier of Andover, Connecticut, spotted dead trees at a Christmas tree farm. Sign up for our weekly email newsletter and never miss a story. The climate is changing, and our journalists are here to help you make sense of it.

There were so many caterpillars that Biskupski could hear them. But as they grow and the population expands, they’ll feed on just about any kind of tree. According to Heather Faubert, who runs the Plant Protection Clinic at the University of Rhode Island, the caterpillars prefer oak and apple leaves when they’re young. It’s very weird,” said Biskupski, a freshman at Rham High School.ĭuring the summer, gypsy moth caterpillars have been munching on the forest’s green canopy, leaving trees across Connecticut and Rhode Island leafless. Walking through the woods near her home in Marlborough, Connecticut, Matylda Biskupski couldn’t help but notice that the forest seemed bare. Gypsy moth caterpillars have been munching on New England’s trees, causing widespread damage.

The Gypsy Moths by James Drought