We seem to have an over abundance of tent caterpillars this year.
(Thousands of them.)
For those of you who are unfamiliar to this caterpillar, they are the larval
form of a moth that lives only long enough to produce more caterpillars. They
lay their eggs in tree, fruit tree's being their favorite flavor, and then
when the eggs hatch in early spring, the young larva form web tents where
they mature into larger caterpillars, that start to wander in search of fresh
forage.
With the wet spring we've had, we missed the opportunity to eliminate them at
the tent stage when they are the most vulnerable to attack by fire, or long
sticks and big feet.
They have recently entered their wandering stage, and are currently ravaging
the lawn, while in search of new fruit trees to plunder.
I talked to a guy at the department of agriculture, and he said that during
the last large infestation 25 years ago, (which ended in 1976 I think he
said) the spraying of poisons for them barely put a dent in their number, and
that the biologists thought that it was some type of disease that wiped them
out.
He recommended Diazanon during their pupal stage, but he admitted that it
wasn't very effective because of the way they spread themselves out during
their wandering, and could only hold out hope for next year.
Of course, nobody I know is going to use Diazanon, and next spring we'll
either burn their tents early, (because we'll be prepared for their presence)
or use the long stick an big foot method, like we did last time, to keep them
under control.
Any and all help regarding the control of these critters will be greatly
appreciated.
Sincerely yours,
Radar
kasmiller wrote:
> Radar said:
> We seem to have an over abundance of tent caterpillars this year.
> (Thousands of them.)
This from a real novice (me), we usually try to tear up the tent
with something; a long stick, an old fishing pole, etc. After
doing that the birds will eat the caterpillars. The birds just
can't get to them through the web.
The caterpillars were on my favorite plum and pear trees this
year, too. The birds have long since got rid of them for us.
Loy
Radar said:
> We seem to have an over abundance of tent caterpillars this year.
> (Thousands of them.)
The tentworm, bagworm, and fall webworm are all cousins and while they do
defoliate the tree, in and by themselves are not harmful, its the
defoliation that harms the tree if it occurs often enough. Since these guys
are leaf eaters, Bt, which apparently some now think is not something to
use, is the spray of choice to control these buggers. Here is an observation
I made this past week. While on morning patrol the other day I found a web
in one of my apple trees, since the tree had not leafed out enough to
warrant applying Bt, I just broke the web apart to expose these blighters to
the elements. The next day I saw an army of ants on this apple hauling the
larva away and the following day could not find any tentworms on that tree.
The egg cases for the tentworms can be found in late winter 9 to 18 inches
in from a branch tip and it looks like someone wrapped the branch with a
hard foam, most often dark brown but sometimes a lighter brown. Eliminating
these egg cases at that time will help cut down the numbers.
Kimm
Radar is right on all counts about forest tent caterpillar. They are
entrenched here in the Washington, DC, suburbs, too (maybe 3 hours' drive
east of Radar).
Although their gauzy tents are ugly to look at, it's my understanding that
this insect does not do very much actual damage to the environment.
The caterpillars are attractive "hairy" stripers, about 1.2 inches long at
their most voracious. Which is right now, here in the Mid-Atlantic states.
We squish individuals using the Glove of Death (an old leather gardening
glove that lost its mate).
To remove the ugly tents [by now empty of the teeny-weeny larvae that start
gestating there], try the Ortho Tree and Shrub hose-end sprayer with no
toxicant. The nests are kind of like giant cobwebs and a high-pressure
stream of water will blow them away.
I know of no "organic" solution to tent caterpillar invasion.
--Janet
In a message dated 5/7/00 9:04:05 AM Eastern Daylight Time,
kasmiller@EMAIL.MSN.COM writes:
<< The egg cases for the tentworms can be found in late winter 9 to 18 inches
in from a branch tip and it looks like someone wrapped the branch with a
hard foam, most often dark brown but sometimes a lighter brown. Eliminating
these egg cases at that time will help cut down the numbers. >>
Ooooh! I had some on my plum tree this early spring and I thought they were
overwintering fungus and cut them of and threw them away. Just dumb luck, I
guess.
Mary Ann
Going to 90 deg today, no yard work getting done.
Loy stated:
Normally the birds don't seem too interested in the tentworm caterpillars
here, although a couple of years ago i did report seeing some Mourning Doves
tear apart a bagworm nest and feast on those buggers. A couple of Bluejays
joined the doves to see what was going on, those guys are really nosey,
sampled some and then left. Maybe there's a mineral my sand is lacking that
affects the flavor of these blighters here so my birds aren't interested.
Kimm
At 11:04 AM 5/8/00 -0300, Kevin asked,
> BTW....does the Tent Caterpillar infestation result from moths which "fly in"
> and lay eggs, OR, does a caterpillar crawl up the trunk and lay eggs? More
> specifically, would "Tanglefoot" work to prevent Tent Caterpillar
> infestations?
I don't know the answer to this. But I had supper with my next-door
neighbors yesterday, and the wife has been told [source unknown to me] that
Tree Tanglefoot, applied to burlap (specifically) that gets tied around
treetrunks works on tent caterpillar larvae.
This suggestion seems to be predicated on the "they crawl up the trunks"
theory.
She was specifically instructed not to put the Tanglefoot on the treetrunk
itself.
Re Kev's Windex solution, I don't know how much Windex and the soap-derived
surfactants he listed have in common. If soap kills tent cats, kewl.
--Janet
Dear Janet
Janet Wintermute wrote:
A few squirts of Windex works great. However, in that Windex is not considered
Organic, we can prolly get an organic cure simply by spraying an organically
acceptable wetting agent.
Would someone care to suggest Organically acceptable wetting agents?
Soapy water?
Detergent?
Other?
BTW....does the Tent Caterpillar infestation result from moths which "fly in"
and lay eggs, OR, does a caterpillar crawl up the trunk and lay eggs? More
specifically, would "Tanglefoot" work to prevent Tent Caterpillar infestations?
Kevin Chisholm
> To remove the ugly tents [by now empty of the teeny-weeny larvae that
start
> gestating there], try the Ortho Tree and Shrub hose-end sprayer with no
> toxicant. The nests are kind of like giant cobwebs and a high-pressure
> stream of water will blow them away.
That "tent" is the caterpillars home and after spending the day feeding on
your favorite tree they return to the tent for shelter for the night. They
also tend to spend rainy and cold days in there, so destroying the tent
someway would expose the blighters to the elements.
> I know of no "organic" solution to tent caterpillar invasion.
Bacillus thuringiensis - kurstaki is an organic solution.
> A few squirts of Windex works great. However, in that Windex is not
considered
> Organic, we can prolly get an organic cure simply by spraying an
organically
> acceptable wetting agent.
The webs are quite waterproof and a wetting agent would have to be quite
strong and still probably would do little to penetrate the web.
in"
> and lay eggs, OR, does a caterpillar crawl up the trunk and lay eggs? More
> specifically, would "Tanglefoot" work to prevent Tent Caterpillar
infestations?
A moth is the parent, don't recall which right now and it lays an egg mass
in a light to dark brown hard foamy mess usually 9 to 18 inches frm a
branch tip. Tanglefoot would work in trapping the caterpillars as they
descend the trunk to pupate in the soil or if they decide to migrate,
happens but not often, to another tree.
Kimm
Last year, my predator wasps seem to have taken care of all of the
tent caterpillars that appeared early in the season! I had noticed about a
dozen nearby trees with beginning infestations that died out by the end of
May.
Walker Bennett
e-mail:
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A moth is the parent, don't recall which right now and it lays an egg mass
in a light to dark brown hard foamy mess usually 9 to 18 inches frm a
branch tip. Tanglefoot would work in trapping the caterpillars as they
descend the trunk to pupate in the soil or if they decide to migrate,
happens but not often, to another tree.
Kimm
In a message dated 5/8/00 11:16:50 PM, LISTSERV@LSV.UKY.EDU writes:
> BTW....does the Tent Caterpillar infestation result from moths which "fly
> in" and lay eggs, OR, does a caterpillar crawl up the trunk and lay eggs?
More
> specifically, would "Tanglefoot" work to prevent Tent Caterpillar
infestations?
> Kevin Chisholm
Caterpillars are the "immature" stage of the moth, and do not produce eggs.
Only the adult produces eggs. The eggs of the Tent Caterpillar moth actually
hatch in early spring and it is the caterpillar (larvae stage) which creates
the characteristic "tent" of silk in the crotch of the tree. These
caterpillars are gregarious (travel in groups) and there may be more than 100
caterpillars inside a "tent". About 6 weeks after hatching the caterpillars
are fully developed and form cocoons which can be found on tree trunks,
fences, in leaf litter or debris on the ground. About 2 weeks later the adult
moth emerges and soon deposits the overwintering egg masses, after which the
adult dies.
Destroying egg masses during the winter is sometimes suggested as a means of
control on a small scale. Natural enemies control most of the population.
Birds, predatory and parasitic insects and unfavorable weather conditions
provide most of the natural control. Pre-formed enzyme cleaners can provide
an organic "wetting agent" if you will. Enzymes (protease, lipase and
amylase) can actually break down the protective outer layers of the insect
exoskeleton and expose the insect to natural pathogens of cause the insect to
dehydrate. The enzymes should break down the silk webs.
http://www.biconet.com/kkec.html
All the best,
Eric W. Acosta - Director
Biocontrol Network
Bio-rational Alternatives for an Ever Shrinking Planet
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URL http://www.biconet.com E-Mail: ebugs@biconet.com
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