Forest Sciences Commons^™

A Comparison Of Two Methods Of Quantifying Mating Success In Low Density Gypsy Moth (Lymantria Dispar) Populations, Alexandra Barry, Hannah Byrne, Derek M. Johnson

Undergraduate Research Posters

The gypsy moth (Lymantria dispar) is a defoliating pest native to Europe and invasive to North America. The gypsy moth is subject to depressed mating success in low density populations, which may restrict spread of the forest pest. Research focusing on gypsy moth density as it relates to mating behavior has often used counts of males caught in pheromone-baited delta traps as a proxy to estimate the probability of female mating success. The purpose of this project was to determine whether pheromone trap counts provide accurate estimates of female mating success probability, by comparing data gathered from pheromone-baited …