Horse drawn spraying equipment. Photo: archives of the USDA APHIS Pest Survey Detection and Exclusion Laboratory

Gypsy moths continue to rule the headlines in my NJ town. Our mayor finally agreed to join the state aerial spraying program this spring, after hoards of angry residents spoke up at meetings and through letters to our newspaper. He still insists that he may spray Dimlin as well, using the shiny new ground spraying equipment he purchased with our tax dollars. I hope it's a little more sophisticated than the gypsy moth sprayer in this image from the 19th century.

Since gypsy moths are on my mind, I decided to write an article on this invasive insect, Lymantria dispar. In researching the article, I found some incredible historical images from the 1800's, when efforts were first made to contain the outbreak. The alien gypsy moth came from France, in the hands of an amateur entomologist named Etienne Leopold Trouvelot. He raised the moths on his backyard trees in Medford, Massachusetts, but soon realized some caterpillars had escaped.

Within a few decades, the first major outbreaks of gypsy moths occurred, alarming residents as they watched the caterpillars completely defoliate their forests. The first government gypsy moth eradication began, but their efforts were unable to stop the spread of the insect. Nearly 150 years later, citizens still sound the alarm during bad gypsy moth outbreaks, and the government still scrambles to stop it.