Density/Height Profile and Long-range Dispersal of First-instar Gypsy Moth (Lepidoptera: Lymantriidae)

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Abstract
The density/height profile of first-instar gypsy moth, Lymantria dispar (L.), was determined by sampling with airplanes up to 800 m above a moderately dense population of the moth in forests around Driftwood, Pa. A model is proposed suggesting that these flightless larvae were lifted there by atmospheric turbulence and that horizontal movement of convective cells due to wind could transport the larvae up to 19 km in a single dispersal episode. Rapid expansion of the gypsy moth population range along the Appalachian Mountains can be explained by atmospheric transport of a small proportion of the larval population.