Agricultural and Forest Entomology (1999) 1, 37-45

Alexei A. Sharov, Bryan C. Pijanowski, Andrew M. Liebhold and Stuart H. Gage (1999)
What affects the rate of gypsy moth (Lepidoptera: Lymantriidae) spread: winter temperature or forest susceptibility?
Agricultural and Forest Entomology 1 (1), 37-45
Abstract: 1 The effect of winter temperature and forest susceptibility on the rate of gypsy moth Lymantria dispar (L.) range expansion in the lower peninsula of Michigan was analysed using historical data on moth counts in a grid of pheromone-baited traps collected from 1985 to 1994 by the Michigan Department of Agriculture. The rate of spread was measured by the distance between population boundaries in consecutive years. Boundaries were estimated for population thresholds of 1, 3, 10, 30, and 100 moths per trap using a polar coordinate system.
2 The average rate of spread estimated using all population thresholds was 15.8 km/yr.
3 The rate of spread was higher in the northern part of the lower peninsula than in the southern part, despite lower minimum January temperatures in the north.
4 The rate of spread was positively correlated with forest susceptibility, which was higher in the north than in the south.
(The abstract is excluded from the Creative Commons licence and has been copied with permission by the publisher.)
Link to article at publishers website
Database assignments for author(s): Andrew M. Liebhold, Alexei A. Sharov

Research topic(s) for pests/diseases/weeds:
environment - cropping system/rotation
population dynamics/ epidemiology

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Pest and/or beneficial records:

Beneficial	Pest/Disease/Weed	Crop/Product	Country	Quarant.
	Lymantria dispar		U.S.A. (NE)