Tent cattiplilars

[marty]

Well seen a sign today that said 62 days till spring man I can't wait. At least the snow has slowed down a bit lately. Good break for the critters. On my place jusr after spring gets in bloom I get a visit from tent cattipillars. The make a white silk tent and usually are just loaded with them. They seem to like black cherry  trees the best. Is there a way to get them gone forever or do I have to run through the woods with a spray bottle of soap solution or my torch to burn them.........marty

[marty]

Where's my spell check? I almost was ready to do homework with my 12 year old daughter......marty

[Jeff]

I,ll try to get that working again today, I apologize, but for every one thing you see new, there are 5 things you don't and they don't work yet either!

I was dreading this time, but knew I had to get these changes finished.

[marty]

Just yanking your chain jeff

[Jeff]

Marty, Several years ago (before the gypsy moth invasion) We had tons of the tent worms in our neighborhood year after year. And as you said, on the cherry trees. I don't ever remember them on any thing else.

One Spring, one of the older neighbors took it upon himself to go anywhere and everywhere with his propane torch. When he was finished there were no tents anywhere.

Now, I don't know if it was because he was so thorough, or because a couple years later they started treating our area for Gypsy moths, but the tent caterpillars have never returned, and were talking, maybe, 10 years more or less.

[NS]

Last modification: admin - 01/19/01 at 13:24:26

[Phorester]

Pure luck you didn't get'em back after the burning.  Maybe the gypsy moth spray had something to do with it, but I really don't think so.

'Fraid you're stuck with'em.  Eastern Tent Caterpillars have been on cherry trees as long as there have been cherry trees. This is also a bug that apple orchardists have to spray for every year.  (Apple is in the Cherry family)

[Jeff]

Welcome Phorester!

I am almost sure the gypsy moth program killed em.  We get sprayed every year now.

[Ron Scott]

The tent caterpillar is a native insect that causes various degrees of defoliation. It has periodic outbreaks every 6 to 10 years. Outbreaks in the Lake states usually last for 3 years and then subside. The tents and mess are annoying and defoliation will slow tree growth, but usually doesn't kill them unless trees are supressed. New spring foliage will be stunted.
Freezing weather just after hatching will usually kill or set them back. Several species of flys and wasps parasitize the eggs, larvae, and pupae. So flys and wasps may also become annoying when tent catipillar populations are high.
Several chemical insecticides and microbial insecticides such as Bacillus thuringienus which is also used on the Gypsy Moth are registered for its control. Gypsy moth control will also set back the tent caterpillar.

[Phorester]

We have these things in Virginia every year. Completely defoliates practically every wild (black)cherry tree in my neck of the woods. Always has. Funny..., nobody said much about them until Gypsy Moth moved in in the mid 1980's. Then, everybody suddenly started calling about the webs on their trees made by the Gypsy moths!!  (Gypsy Moth doesn't make webs - they're known as "free feeders", so any caterpillar that makes a web can't be Gypsy Moth.) Interesting dealing with the general public.

[Forester Frank]

I tried pinching their heads off, eastern tent catepillars that is, but it took all summer and the next year they came back.

Any uses Marty? Do they work for fish bait?

If there is an eastern species, does a western species also exist?

[SwampDonkey]

We had something even worst. Forest tent caterpillar or ARMY WORMS, they don't have nests, they march and munch attacking mainly aspen. They would also eat apple, oak and cherry and some ornamental shrubs. They're about 2.5 inches long. We had them in the 80's for 3 straight years. It was a mess in the woods and roads. Houses where covered in the Dang things. What killed them off was disease and parasitic fly maggots. They tend to bunch up in groups at night or when resting.  I hope I never see that mess again in my lifetime. The caterpillar is black with a conspicuous row of irregular cream-colored spots along the back and many bluish markings on the sides. The body is sparsely covered with light brown hairs.

http://www.na.fs.fed.us/spfo/pubs/infosheets/tentcat/

[Onthesauk]

We've got them in the West also.  Use to be on about a seven year cycle.  You wouldn't see them for a number of years, a few would appear one year and the next year they would be terrible.  Had some 80 foot cottenwood trees totally stripped of leaves.  Not worth spraying, eventually the cycle turns and you don't see them for a few years.  For the most part they don't kill anything, just unsightly and messy.

[Coon]

We had an army worm outbreak in 2000 or 2001 and only lasted for about 2 years which I found to be very odd.  Any other outbreak of them that I have seen lasted for anywhere from 5-7 years.  We were doing some summer logging when the last outbreak occurred back in '00 or '01 but it made for some easy limbing as we didn't have to deal with leaves.  The army worms were another thing though.  After a while you got used to them crawling all over you. .

[jayfed]

Our Army of Caterpillars showed in the UP of Michigan about 2002 and lasted thru 2004. The first two years were their build-up period.  The last two years were the build-up for the preditory grey fly (the large 'black' flies that buzz alot but don't bite) which decimated the Army emass the third year. For us the aspen and basswood were hit the hardest in the woods and the fruit trees. too.  Maple, birch and oak were last resorts. It is so strange to be marking timber with little shade - too *DanG bright and warm.  And all those dangling strands of silk to walk through left a lot to be desired.  Of interest, in the 4th year with few 'worms' to munch on, the new crop of grey flies went after the other bugs which gave us a low bug dope year. Also during the spring of the 4th year, ALL the farm's apple trees bloomed as opposed to the alternating pattern of other years.