Gyspy Moth female (European Gypsy Moth, North American Gypsy Moth)
Lymantria dispar dispar
Moth-mother and her clutch of eggs under wing.
Lymantria is Latin for destroyer; a fitting name for a creature considered to be one of the most destructive adversaries against hardwood trees in the eastern United States.
The gypsy moth is a vagabond of Eurasian origin that arrived in the United States in the year 1869. Étienne Léopold Trouvelot, a French astronomer, artist, and amateur entomologist imported the gypsy moth to Medford, Massachusetts -- an attempt to breed the prolific destroyers with silkworms, thus bolstering the silk industry with innovation; alas, he was an amateur in the field of entomology and is primarily known for this folly, above all else. After the Lymantria dispar dispar diaspora that he commandeered, he spent the remainder of his life studying the stars.