in coastal Maine, from Portland to Bar Harbor. In addition to North America, there have been reports of this species appearing in China, Japan and New Guinea. Detection Photographs taken from aerial fly-overs are used to identify areas where the trees have been denuded of leaves and where the branch-tip tents are present. The female sex hormone has been synthesized and field-tested in moth traps as a means of monitoring moth populations during the June/July flight season. The white-winged adults are nocturnal and strongly attracted to light; a report from 1903 likened their appearance around streetlights as being akin to heavy snowfall. Life cycle The brown-tail moth produces one generation a year. It has four life stages; egg, larval, pupal, and adult. Eggs are laid in July and hatch in August. The annual cycle is approximately one month as eggs, nine months as larvae, one month as pupae, and one month as imagoes (winged, sexually mature adults). Eggs are preferentially laid on oak trees. Pre-diapausing larvae: Emerge and feed gregariously starting in August after about three weeks of egg incubation. Diapausing larvae: As a response to shortened periods of daylight, larvae build communal winter nests in the fall, inside of which they overwinter. These involve webbing binding leaves together at tree-top branch tips. Distinct from other communal moth larvae such as eastern tent caterpillar which over-winter as eggs, then create webbed nests in branch crotches during spring and summer. Post-diapausing gregarious larvae: The emerging larvae, approximately one centimeter long, resume feeding in early April synchronized with bud break, and still inhabit the winter nests as their resting places, or else make communal web-nests. These small larvae will also detach from trees and fall to the ground, then search for new trees. Post-diapausing dispersive larvae: Once larvae reach late instars, colonies break up and larvae start feeding independently. Pupation: Larvae pupate in June after six to eight instars. Emergence: Imagoes (winged, sexually mature adults) appear about one month later; mate, lay eggs and die. Predators, parasites and diseases In the United States, many species of birds prey on the winged adults, including English house sparrow and blue jay. A review of mortality causes in England and mainland Europe described the brown-tail moth as undergoing periodic population outbreaks, each developing rapidly and lasting for several years, followed by a decline to relative obscurity. In a study conducted in England, egg, larvae and