Eastern tent caterpillar
Distinctive markings: Prominent white or yellow stripe running down the center of back, small blue spots on side.
Behavior: This caterpillar constructs tents where branches fork in cherry, wild cherries, crabapple, and apple trees. These caterpillars feed in May and early June on the trees their tents are built in. The tents may linger into the summer before falling apart. Eastern tent caterpillars rarely cause significant damage, though people have done permanent damage to their trees by excessive pruning in cutting out the tents or the use of fire to kill the caterpillars. Instead, tree owners should wait until dusk, then wearing rubber gloves, strip the tent and the caterpillars out of the tree using their hands. The tent and caterpillars can then be plunged into soapy water, buried, or burned away from the tree.
Credit: Gerald Lenhard, Louisiana State University. Image 0795040. ForestryImages.org, November 24, 2001.
Credit: Tim Tigner, Virginia Department of Forestry. Image 0886010. ForestryImages.org. November 24, 2001.
Thanks Daena!
ReplyDeleteI was about to go out tonight and snip off those scarey looking worms and throw them into the fire,BUT as long as they aren't going to damage my trees i will wait for them to leave.
Jr
That's what it says anyway. But, I have seen them completely strip wild cherry trees. Can't imagine it isn't harmful to them.
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