Apparent long-term bodily contamination by disparlure, the gypsy moth (Lymantria dispar) Attractant

Positive attraction of male gypsy moths to the body of the author, now four years after his last known direct contact with disparlure, the synthetic pheromone, is documented. A designed test showed that moths responded to him in highly significantly greater numbers than to others who had had less or no previous exposure to the insect and / or disparlure. The data present persuasive evidence of bodily contamination with disparlure and suggest that the material is very persistent.