To determine what nutrients limit the growth of Lymantria dispar feeding on American Beech (Fagus grandifolia) leaves, we fed gypsy moth caterpillars one of four diet types--either an unsupplemented diet of F. grandifolia, a carboyhydrate-enhanced diet, a nitrogen-enhanced diet, or a diet supplemented with both nitrogen and carboyhdrate. We found that casein, a nitrogen source, caused a significant increase in the caterpillar's growth rate while dextrose, a carbohydrate, did not. Based on these results, we concluded that nitrogen content is a limiting factor in the growth rate of L. dispar on F. grandifolia.http://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/54332/1/2768.pdfDescription of 2768.pdf : Access restricted to on-site users at the U-M Biological Station
