Communication Potential Differences and Methods of Determining Gypsy Moth Female Flight Capabilities: Implications for the Establishment and Spread in Novel Habitats Vivek Srivastava 1 , Melody A. Keena 2,* , Galen E. Maennicke 1, Richard C. Hamelin 3 and Verena C. Griess 1 1 Forest Sciences Centre, Department of Forest Resources Management, Faculty of Forestry, University of British Columbia, 2424 Main Mall, Vancouver, BC V6T1Z4, Canada;
[email protected] (V.S.);
[email protected] (G.E.M.);
[email protected] (V.C.G.) 2 United States Department of Agriculture, Northern Research Station, Forest Service, 51 Mill Pond Road, Hamden, CT 06514, USA 3 Forest Sciences Centre, Department of Forest and Conservation Sciences, Faculty of Forestry, University of British Columbia, 2424 Main Mall, Vancouver, BC V6T1Z4, Canada;
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[email protected] Abstract: The introduction of the Asian gypsy moth into novel environments continues with frequent interceptions in North America. There is a concern that these subspecies will pose a greater threat to the forests and urban environments of North America than the established gypsy moths (Lyman- tria dispar dispar L.), due to their greater capacity for female flight. Asian gypsy moth populations vary in many key traits, including female flight capabilities. The potential impacts of female flight, in combination with the other key traits, on the ecology and spread of this insect are first discussed in this communication. This also provides the first review of most of the current literature on the variations in flight capability and flight distance of gypsy moth populations, as well as variation in other traits of concern and the potential methods of identification, with special attention paid to Citation: Srivastava, V.; Keena, M.A.; the Asian subspecies Lymantria dispar japonica Motschulsky and Lymantria dispar asiatica Vinkovskij.