problems with pupae at the airport?

[John Shuey]

As an Indiana Republican Congressman once said during the President Nixon
impeachment hearings:
 
"Don't confuse me with the facts" - a relevant quote given the following exchange:"
 
semjase at aol.com wrote:
 
> > > Brought in by which moth enthusiast.  Sorry but the big boys did this
> >one!
> >>
 
To which I replied:
 
> >
> >I'm not sure which revisionist history books you guys are using, but gypsy
> >moths were introduced
> >into the US by a hack amateur moth enthusiast/Naturalist who thought he could
> >hybridize species
> >in two different families to produce better silk production.  He choose a
> >very prolific moth
> >from Europe to breed with our giant cocoon spinners in the US and or with the
> >silk moth itself.
> >What better example do you need on misguided  "naturalist" screwing up the
> >environment.  Just
> >think, if there had been a law in place to prevent this idiot from bringing
> >in the gypsy moth
> >back in 1866, my state (Indiana) wouldn't have to douse the countryside with
> >poison every year.
> >
> >For information on the history of the introduction go to:
> >http://www.gypsymoth.ento.vt.edu/~ravlin/gm_1996.html
> >
 
To which semjase responded:
 
>
> >Mr Shuey:
>
> Thank you for proving my point which is that it was done for industrial reasons
> to promote the silk industry. (The big boys) The cynthia is here for the same
> reason though seldom a pest.  Same thing with killer bees and the list goes on
> and on.
>
> This is far different from the person who wishes to breed a few to observe life
> history and learn a few things about a new or different species.
>
> S.
 
If you think that Mr. Trouvelot was an industrialist in the silk industry, then
revisionist history strikes again.  He was a dapper fool with a get rich scheme.
 
As a generic aside with relevance to this discussion - it never hurts to actually
know what you are talking about before you make an ass of yourself in front of a
World audience.  There is actually a fair amount of information available about
gypsy moths on the web (not to mention books), including the history of the
introduction to the US.  God forbid that people take the time to actually get some
facts under theirs belt before their fingers start to move on the keyboard.  I even
provided a link to a huge gypsy moth web site.
 
Stupidity may be genetic, but ignorance is easily correctable.
 
--
John Shuey