Meet the Brown-tail Moth (Euproctis chrysorrhoea)

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.[3] 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.[12] 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.[1]