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Helpful Hints: Eastern Tent Caterpillar

© Stansbury Pond, Dundalk, Md.

      Webs of the eastern tent caterpillar are a common sight in Baltimore County in the spring. The caterpillars hide in the webs at night and feed on the leaves of wild cherry trees during the day.

While wild cherry  trees are their favorite host plant they will often crawl to nearby flowering crabapples and hawthorns as well.

The loss of leaves will weaken the trees, however outbreaks often occur early enough in the season so that wild cherries can replace their eaten leaves with new ones. 

The eggs of tent caterpillars winter over in an inch long black gall-like mass. In the Baltimore area eggs will usually hatch around the first week of April. The newly hatched young caterpillars then begin to spin their silk tents. As they mature they develop a white stripe down their back. Most of their damage is done during the month of May. As they reach maturity by the end of May they find a hiding place and spin their cocoons. The small brown moths hatch in early summer at which time they mate and produce the eggs. These eggs will winter over and hatch the following spring.

 How to control:

 Remove wild cherry trees from hedgerows and fields bordering properties which contain ornamentals which are susceptible to tent caterpillar infestation. Egg masses should be pruned from trees and destroyed. In the spring caterpillar tents can be torn from trees as well.

 Information for this article came from Eastern Tent Caterpillar and Forest Tent Caterpillar, a publication of the Cooperative Extension Service, Maryland Institute for Agriculture and Natural Resources, Home and Garden Mimeo #HG21

       The Forest Conservancy District Board for Baltimore County

9405 Old Harford Road

Baltimore, Maryland 21234

(410) 665-5820 

Email Robert Prenger ....... rprenger@dnr.state.md.us

 Melvin Noland ....... mlnoland@bcpl.net