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Larvae of the invasive gypsy moth (Lymantria dispar). This caterpillar is best known for its polyphagy and damaging outbreaks, causing extensive defoliation in U.S. temperate forests. The wider, indirect effects of this invasion on the forest community are not well known. Photos by Michael S. Singer.
Community ecology has many applications to conservation biology, among them understanding mechanisms and impacts of biological invasions. The invasive gypsy moth caterpillar is typically the most abundant caterpillar species in Connecticut forests. We are studying the causes and consequences of its changes in abundance from a community ecology perspective. We hypothesize that control of gypsy moth by an entomopathogenic fungus (Entomophaga maimaiga) changes competition between the gypsy moth and native Lepidoptera, mediated through polyphagous parasitoids (Compsilura concinnata) that were themselves imported for biological control.