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Gypsy Moth!
By: Brendan Higby
What is a Gypsy Moth?
A
Gypsy Moth is a moth of the
Lymantriidae family, this moth is of
Eurasian origin. The moth was originally
found anywhere from Europe to Asia. The
moth’s color resembles a wooden
pattern. An adult male moths wingspan is
approx. 20-24 mm long, however a fully
grown females wingspan is a slight bit
bigger at a 31-35 mm long .
How did the Gypsy Moth arrive
in our nation?

It was introduced to North America in the
late 1860s and has been expanding its
range ever since. However the moth is not
commonly found in Canada there has
been sightings in British Columbia , It was
introduced into the United States in 1868
by a French scientist, Leopold Trouvelot.
There are also a large population of them
in New Zealand.
Before and After the Gypsy
moth.


BEFORE: Before the Gypsy Moth arrived the
ecosystem was a lot the same as it is now,
however we did have a lot more of the trees
and plants they feast on, it hasn’t
tremendously effected the ecosystem yet but
we need to stop the spread of invasive
species because it will start to cause serious
environmental problems and will in turn make
our important trees become endangered.
AFTER: As I said above the ecosystem hasn’t
had a dramatic change as of right now.
The Problem!
 The
problem is gypsy moth’s are an
invasive species it poses a great threat to
Canada's forests, biodiversity and
economy. The moth feeds on a
tremendous amount of important tree
and plant species and is creating
problems for our environment by doing so.
The solution!

As the Canadian government website states : “An
invasive species can be any plant, animal,
aquatic life or micro-organism that spreads when
introduced outside of its natural distribution.
Invasive species can cause serious and often
irreversible damage to Canada's ecosystems,
economy and society.” I think they are absolutely
right, I think to stop the spread of invasive species
we need to start in their homeland, we need to
watch our boats and planes and make sure they
aren’t stowing away! Also here at home we should
start spraying environmentally friendly “pesticides”
if you will, into the air to stop the spread of the
gypsy moth and other invasive species!