The evolving use of insecticides in - Gypsy moth management

The gypsy moth, an exotic defoliating insect, persists in the United States despite 100 years of attempts at eradication and management using many ins ecticides. Efforts to eliminate the pest in the Northeast eventually gave w ay to containment and suppression strategies using broad-spectrum, persiste nt insecticides. Those products have since been replaced by biologically ba sed technologies that have fewer environmental impacts. With continued expa nsion of the gypsy moth into the South and Midwest-and with valuable forest s at risk-there are renewed efforts to slow its spread with environmentally acceptable insecticides and to eradicate isolated outbreaks in new habitat s far from the infested area.