gypsy moth


noun

a moth, Porthetria dispar, introduced into the U.S. from Europe, the larvae of which feed on the foliage of shade and other trees.

Origin of gypsy moth

First recorded in 1810–20

Example sentences from the Web for gypsy moth

  • Into the orchard, for instance, had come the San José scale; into the wood-lot had crawled the gypsy-moth—human blunders!

    The Face of the Fields |Dallas Lore Sharp
  • There is, for example, a tendency on the part of the gypsy-moth caterpillar to destroy utterly the forests of the United States.

    By the Christmas Fire |Samuel McChord Crothers

British Dictionary definitions for gypsy moth

gypsy moth

noun

a variant spelling of gipsy moth