According to a story in the Richmond Times-Dispatch, Gypsy Moths have defoliated 112,340 acres of forest in Virginia this year, which is more combined damage than what has been done in the last four years. Virginia Department of Forestry officials say the dry springs of the last couple years have prevented the growth of a specific fungus that feeds on the moth in its caterpillar stage.
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The leaf-eating pests first made their way to the U.S. in the late nineteenth century and have slowly made their way south.
Read more <a href=”http://www.inrich.com/cva/ric/news.apx.-content-articles-RTD-2008-07-30-0132.html”>here.</a>
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