Gypsy-Moth-Caterpillar Dermatitis

The gypsy moth caterpillar (Lymantria dispar) is named because of its ability to spin silken threads that allow it to be windblown great distances. The northeastern part of the United States is currently infested by hordes of these insects, whose caterpillar larvae are expected to ingest and defoliate over 15 million acres of foliage in 1982. A single tree may be the feeding ground for more than 50,000 larvae, whose excrement, frass, litters the ground with a sound similar to that of light rain.While this massive damage to the environment was occurring in the late spring and early summer . . .