Chestnut blight from East Asia devastated more than just the American chestnut The American chestnut casebearer moth relied on the native American chestnut (Castanea dentata) for survival. This hardwood tree was the sole host plant for its larvae, ultimately leading to the highly specialized moth species’ downfall. Once one of
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A photo of the chestnut casebearer moth, published on iNaturalist in June 2020, shows that this species is not extinct as previously believed. Scientists had thought that the insect from the casebearer moth family had disappeared between 1904 and 1950. (© Steven Whitebread, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons)