Moth Species Not Seen Since 1912 Was Intercepted at Detroit Airport

Customs agents at Detroit Metropolitan Airport were checking the baggage of a passenger from the Philippines when they found something that caught their attention.

The passenger said that the objects in question were intended for tea. Scientific tests showed that the agents had homed in on a potentially grave threat to the nation's agriculture and natural habitats.

Last week, the US Customs and Border Protection announced that the pupae had hatched a species of insect that hadn't been seen in 100 years. The experts confirmed that the insects had the ability to defoliate forests and feast on crops.

The customs officials said that the black-and-gold dotted wings of the moths looked like they were from the family Pyralidae. The authorities sent the specimen to an expert at the Smithsonian to find out their exact species.

The British entomologist George Hampson was named for the species of moths, according to a lepidopterist at the Insect Diagnostic Lab at Cornell. In a telephone interview, Mr. Dombroskie said that he had trained a Detroit airport agriculture specialist about the discovery of a new plant.

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Mr. Dombroskie, an entomologist, environmental consultant and co- founder of National Moth Week, said it was unlikely that the moths had been smuggled. They said that the species was too obscure to have a purpose.

Both experts emphasized the danger that the species might have posed, given the destructiveness of other nonnative insects.

According to the Entomological Society of America, hundreds of millions of dollars are spent annually on tree-destructive pests.

Scientists fear that the emerald ash borer could kill 99 percent of the nation's ash trees.

The emerald ash borer originated in Detroit.

He asked if this was the next multimillion-dollar pest, referring to the species found by the customs agents.

Mr. Dombroskie said that the identification of such tiny but potentially devastating larvae was difficult.

He said that there was only so much you could know.

The episode showed the importance of training customs agents in animal taxonomy.

He wrote in an email that it took great expertise to find a moth that hadn't been found in more than a century.

The country is protected from invaders by the global supply chain.