On the other hand, their larvae (caterpillars) chew on plants as they grow, making them seem destructive. "But in reality, these plants are their host plants and are meant to be eaten," says Ali.
The one-year project is assessing how spongy moth defoliation shapes the survival of blacklegged ticks, the main vectors of the pathogens that cause Lyme disease, babesiosis, and anaplasmosis. “We ...