wigglies crawling up tree

[maple flats]

In my sugar bush I found several small caterpillars crawling up the trunks of my sugar maples. I need to know what can be done and what does a forest tent caterpillar look like, this is what I suspect they are. If spraying what equipment is needed and what chemicals can be used. From your reccommendations I can check to see if it is labeled for such use in NYS. If needed I do have a valid pesticide applicaters licience but these are new to me. Can something as simple as sticky strips or tanglefoot do the trick?

[bitternut]

Hey maple flats does it look like this critter or is it a small inch worm?





Here is a link to more info on the worms.

http://www.na.fs.fed.us/spfo/pubs/fidls/ftc/tentcat.htm

[Norm]

I use Bt for tent caterpillers in my yard. Nice part is it's a biological spray.

http://www.ext.colostate.edu/PUBS/INSECT/05556.html

[Burlkraft]

Agent Orange sprayed from  a low flying helicopter works pretty well ;) ;)

[maple flats]

If I don't spray it will look like agent orange eventually. I have now identified these as Forest tent caterpillar which does not make a tent, the tent caterpillar does that. The body has a series of spots that look like ovals or keyholes. I will look into BT but Vermont outlawed it as of 1/06, will check about New York, not sure why they outlawed it because it is a common biological control found naturally, just more concentrated and very effective.

[Norm]

I'd be interested into why they outlawed bt. Seems like all the good insecticides are getting banned, what we supposed to do to control things like this? I use them as a last resort but some years if you don't you'll lose a crop.

[SwampDonkey]

Forest tent caterpillar never seemed to be a problem in hardwoods here when we had an outbreak in the 80's. They mostly concentrated on the aspen, box elder and birch, which later leaved back out. They would also hit apple trees as well. We had them 3 years until they died off.

[Burlkraft]

They really like cherry trees here. It starts small and by the end of the year the tree is dead. >:( >:(

[Ron Scott]

Also interested why BT is banned in Vermont???

[low_48]

I onced used a product that was incredibly sticky. You smeared it on the trunk and ANYTHING that crawled up it got stuck. Sorry, no idea what it was called, but it seemed like a cross between STP and grease. The bugs just got stuck in it and died.

[bugmeist]

The sticky stuff works for any caterpillars that climb up the tree but the ones that are already up can swing from tree to tree on a silk.

Also in the late 70's our part of Ontario had a very bad infestation.  I was told they would go after Poplar and Birch and leave the Maple, Oak, etc alone.  They really liked the Red Oak so much so that after they stripped them, they went to the Cherry, and once those were stripped they came back to the Oak that had started to leaf out again.  Lots of stress and die back on the Oak and Cherry.  To bad I didn't have a tractor, mill, and all the other toys I have now to deal with mess the caterpillars left.

[maple flats]

The ones that start in the fork of cherry branches is the eastern tent caterpillar, the forest tent caterpillar does not make a tent but rather a silky blanket that surrounds the trunk or limb and the critters rest and hide from the hot sun in it, the rest of the time they are eating. Their favorite meal is sugar maple or aspen. They will consume the entire leaf except the web  or lace like veins, then they move on to the next leaf. I have purchased some DiPel DF which is one form of BT. It is approved in NYS for some caterpillars but not the forest tent caterpillar. I bought some carry over stock from last year when it was on the label. I can use the old til used up but can not use the new with a different label even thou chem is the same. After this is gone I will need to find an alternative product. As far as damage they do to the trees, will eat all leaves off sugarmaple up til mid-late june, then they form a cacoon and become a large moth that lives about 10 days in which time it mates and lays eggs and then dies. After the feeding frenzy is over the trees do recover so healthy ones do not die and they re-grow leaves and produce enough sugar to feed the buds in the spring BUT do not make enough that the trees should be tapped to make syrup until the first summer with a full leaf canopy all season after the infestation. Infestations are cyclical and usually last 2-3 years in any locality. Uncontrolled what happens is that the population gets so large that they starve because their food has been consumed, then several years pass til perfect winter/spring conditions hatch unhatched eggs still left from the last out break start it all over again. As I say, they rarely kill the tree just eat the leaves into mid june then the tree grows new leaves, but this is real bad news for making syrup.

[bitternut]

maple flats there was a good article in the March/April issue of The New York Forest Owner about managing the forest tent caterpillar. If you are not a member you should consider joining. Lots of good info on various forest owning issues. They also have local chapters that you could join. There are lots of benefits of belonging and various activities are usually planned throughout the year.

Also here is a link from the article to the NYS DEC Web page that has loads of info on all kinds of forestry subjects.

http://www.dec.state.ny.us/website/dlf/privland/forprot/health/nyfo/index.html#top

[tomboysawyer]

Also interested why BT is banned in Vermont???

I don't know about BT, but there are plans to airially spray BtK in Vermont as soon as it stops raining for more than 4 hours:

LINK

This article ran in our local paper - the Bennington (VT) Banner. BtK sounds a lot like BT.

[maple flats]

Yes BTK is another abbreviation for BT of the substrain Kurstaki which is what I will be using. A fellow member on the MapleTrader forum from Vermont said it was banned as of last dec 31 in that state. My guess is he was wrong or the forest tent caterpillar problem got so great that the ban was lifted because it is one of the better choices of control.

[maple flats]

I looked up the product label for what will be sprayed in Vermont, Foray 48B. It is essentially the same as what I got except it is a liquid and mine is a flowable powder. A liquid mixes faster but the dry flowable will mix well in my equipment. The Foray 48B does say "not to be sprayed on trees grown for timber or wood products or for research purposes except wide area public pest control programs sponsered by government entities... "

[SwampDonkey]

That's probably a similar statement Monsanto had to put on their lable of Round-up. We have to use Vision because it was approved by Environment Canada for forest weed control and Round-up wasn't. But, it's the same stuff.  :