Eastern tent caterpillar

Tent caterpillars overwinter as eggs in an egg mass. The eggs hatch in the spring, about the time wild cherry leaves begin to unfold. The young caterpillars quickly gather...

Eastern Tent Caterpillar Moth - Larva (Malacosoma americanum) Love these guys.

While forsythia’s bright yellow blossoms are the harbinger of spring, they also mark the emergence of an impressive defoliator, eastern tent caterpillar. Since last summer, this herbivore has survived as eggs deposited in masses on small branches of cherry, apple, and crabapple trees. This

Common Butterfly Caterpillars and Butterfly Larvae

Ubiquitous webs connecting tree branches in spring are usually the work of Eastern tent caterpillars or forest tent caterpillars.

View On Black Spotted this little guy on what I think was wild parsnip that is blooming now. He didn't look like much until I put on my magnifying lens. I took a look at him close up and went "WOW!" The colors on these guys just amaze me.

Outside of using them for composting, worms just haven’t been on our radar. That is, until they invaded our Walnut tree (worm jerks!). So we sat down with our old friend Google and tried to find out exactly what was taking over our tree and how to make it stop. Were they web worms? Bag worms? Or the Eastern Tent Caterpillar? Find out the differences on each and how you can keep your trees in check after the jump.

Malacosoma americana. Rock Creek Park, Washington, DC, USA. 17 May 2014.

‎Eastern Tent Caterpillar Moth - these are the same ones that make the web tents in trees.

Eastern tent caterpillar populations naturally fluctuate from year to year, with large spring outbreaks occurring every several years. Caterpillar nests are commonly found on wild cherry, apple, and crabapple but may be found on hawthorn, maple, cherry, peach, pear, plum, and others as well.