Lymantria dispar dispar or LDD moth, formerly known as the gypsy moth, European gypsy moth, or North American gypsy moth.

Its larvae consume the leaves of over 500 species of trees, shrubs and plants. The LDD, or Spongy moth in particular is destructive to hardwood trees in the Eastern United States. It is listed as one of the 100 most destructive invasive species worldwide.

In July 2021, the Entomological Society of America announced it was delisting the common name gypsy moth as part of an effort to replace racist or otherwise offensive names. This led the Society to select a replacement name through a consultative process.

In January 2022, they proposed the name spongy moth, in reference to the spongy mass of the egg casing. This new common name was formally adopted in March 2022.

LDD moths are a plague on trees and can eventually kill them. If you spot the early beginnings of an infestation, it's best to act quickly. You don't want to foot the bill for taking down a dead tree on your property, and the caterpillars will leave hard black droppings in late spring underneath infested trees.

Why Spring?

Spring is when this pest inflicts most of the damage to foliage, but luckily you can reduce their numbers before they even hatch.

Prevention

The beige, LDD moth egg sac stands out on trees and it can be scraped off into soapy water.

Once they hatch, caterpillars can also be rounded up into soapy water, along with the adult moths who emerge from their cocoons in summer.

Elimination

If the caterpillars are heading up one of your favourite trees, you can try wrapping it with burlap to trap them and round them up.

Second round of LDD moth spraying scheduled for Toronto

Second round of LDD moth spraying scheduled for Toronto

Aerial spraying for the tree-damaging LDD moth continues in various neighbourhoods across Toronto tomorrow. Source: CP24

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Bug experts are dropping the common name of a destructive insect because it's considered an ethnic slur.

The Entomological Society of America, which oversees the common names of bugs, is getting rid of the common name of the gypsy moth and the lesser-known gypsy ant. The group this week announced that for the first time it changed a common name of an insect because it was offensive. In the past they've only reassigned names that weren't scientifically accurate.

"It's an ethnic slur to begin with that's been rejected by the Romani people a long time ago," said society president Michelle S. Smith. "Second, nobody wants to be associated with a harmful invasive pest."

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@wombtater submitted: No id necessary! The tattoo was done by @jenntattooess on Instagram.

I used to be severely entomophobic, and the first bug I picked up that helped me get over the fear was a g*psy moth caterpillar. I went back and forth on the ethics of getting an invasive species tattooed, but the lil stinkers are too close to my heart I guess.

Beautiful tattoo and little friend visiting the tattoo! They may be invasive, but they're still pretty dang cute. And I love that they helped you get over your fear :)

For future reference, they are now referred to as the LD moth (as in Lymantria dispar - also sometimes LDD moth for the subpsecies Lymantria dispar dispar) because the original common name is considered a slur.

(For the 100+ followers asks)

What are your favorite/dream dolls?

And

Unpopular Monster High opinions?

@belfryprepz Aaaahhhhhh that’s a hard question. It’s really tough to pick favorites when it comes to my dolls, I love them all so so much! For MH, I would have to say my favorites are OG Frankie Stein, OG Clawdeen Wolf, and OG Deuce. All three were ones I’ve had since Childhood and, while in good condition, are very well played with. I don’t use them for set ups/dioramas/scenes anymore because they’re fragile. They’re for standard display only. As for LDD, it’s OG Lydia the Lobster Girl, Hook, and The Unwilling Donor. They’re also some of my first (Lydia and Frankie are my first dolls in each brand respectively), and even though I’ve never played with them like my MH dolls I have a lot of very fond memories with them. I also have some sleeper favorites from other brands. Like the Creatable World doll model DC-220 (also called the “blonde curly hair model”, I’ve since named them Avery).

As for unpopular MH opinions, Manny Taur’s doll design is actually mediocre. Like his cartoon and box art look good, but it does not work when translated into a doll. His arms look awkward when you bend them upwards at the shoulders; they gave him a custom bodybuilder torso and arms, but just left the standard MH boy legs on him. So it looks like the guy has skipped every single leg day since the dawn of time.

Luna Mothews design is also terrible, even worse than Manny’s IMO. She doesn’t even have good box art or animated version, her design is just straight up bad. Like I get that they wanted to add a third color to her palette because they don’t want just another black/red palette so she doesn’t look too much like Wydowna Spider, but why in the wide wide world did they decide it was a good idea to choose yellow as the third color??? She looks like a bee! I literally thought she was a bee when I first saw her. (Nothing against bees, but Luna is supposed to be the daughter of Mothman! Is is too much to ask that she look more like him?) Her wings and antennae are also incorrect and don’t help this problem. Moths have filaments on their antennae which make them look like feathers along with opaque wings. Yet they gave her smooth antennae and translucent veiny wings, also like a bee! Not to mention that while her shoes and headpiece are both metallic, they clash rather than match! The worst part is that this design could’ve been fire if they just changed a few elements. Like her antennae should’ve been molded to look like they had filaments, her wings should’ve been opaque black with red eyespots, the third color that they used for her skin should’ve been a deep indigo or some other color the (I chose dark indigo because I think it pairs nicely with the dark red and black palette while also NOT making her look like a bee, and she could’ve had silver lipstick and sliver and red eyeshadow so her makeup would standout), and her headpiece and shoes should’ve been matching silver. It would’ve looked so COOL!

Jackson and Holt also got terrible backstory in their diaries. Like, the bios and boxes list Holt as the son of Mr. and Mrs. Hyde and Jackson as the son of Dr. Jekyll. Which would imply that Holt is the direct descendant of Mr. Hyde and his wife (who is a another monster or human, and also not romantically involved with Dr. Jekyll because no “Mrs. Jekyll” is listed), and Jackson would also be the direct descendant of Dr. Jekyll. But on the first page of Jackson’s journal, he says “I saw mom's Hyde side come out was when I was 5,” revealing that their moms are actually descendants of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde somewhere down the line, and that they’re dad is actually a fire elemental with no duel nature connection at all. Like?? How do you fundamentally contradict the canon backstory within the first installment of said canon backstory??? But I guess good has come out of it though, like mine and others’ motivation to write really thorough AU and headcanon content on the two of them.

But I think that’s about it! Thank you for asking!!

Tweet from AccuWeather (@accuweather)

AccuWeather (@accuweather) Tweeted:

LDD moth caterpillars have invaded forests and parks in Ontario and some parts of Quebec, and climate change is turning them into a bigger problem: https://t.co/XOErVtKRMA https://twitter.com/accuweather/status/1414139908210544642?s=20

https://t.co/XOErVtKRMA

Column: A gypsy moth by any other name is no less odious

Column: A gypsy moth by any other name is no less odious #IpswichMA #bugs #insects #invasives #NorthShoreMA

by Bob Waite Say goodbye to the gypsy moth. Say hello to Lymantria Dispar Dispar (or LDD, for short). By any name, this invasive European insect species is devouring tree canopies from New England to Wisconsin and from New Brunswick to Ontario. It was brought to the New World in 1869 by a fellow named Étienne Léopold Trouvelot, who had the bright idea of interbreeding them with silkworms to…

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Summer in Mayberry! ... and a little Color Me LDD Blue Jeans! Despite those nasty gypsy moth caterpillars looks like we'll still have some blueberries this year! . . . #mayberrymade #colormeldd #lddcolorofthemonth #bluejeans #july #lisadavenportdesigns #cashmereandbluejeans #gardenlife #summertime #maketodayamazing

Aerial spraying for LDD moths starts this weekend in Toronto

Aerial spraying for LDD moths starts this weekend in Toronto

The City of Toronto will begin spraying biological pesticide on various parts of the city’s tree canopy this weekend in an attempt to control the spread of the highly destructive LDD Moth. Source: CP24

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@real-live-human submitted: This was one of several very friendly bugs I met this past week (I told them that you love them)! Location is southeastern Ontario. Was wondering if you'd mind IDing them for me? Thank you!

Also, here are some LDD moths who were out and about looking for mates. There were probably hundreds of them, and a couple even hung out near/on me long enough for a photo before going on their way :)

They're kinda goofy and don't seem to have the best sense of direction, at least in the daytime, but I love them.

Thank you for telling them that I love them because that is very true. The first friend is a round-necked longhorn beetle, Clytus ruricola. Look at those bushy antennae!!! They may be invasive but they are still very cute :)