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because the caterpillars must bask in the sun to elevate their temperatures above the cool ambient temperatures that occur in the early spring. Studies have shown that when the body temperature of a caterpillar is less than about 15 °C (59 °F), digestion cannot occur. The tent consists of discrete layers of silk separated by gaps and the temperature in these compartments varies markedly. Caterpillars can adjust their body temperatures by moving from one compartment to another. On cool mornings they typically rest in a tight aggregate just under a sunlit surface of the tent. It is not uncommon to find that the temperature of the aggregate is as much as 30 °C (54 °F) warmer than the surrounding air temperature on cold but sunny spring mornings. Later on in the spring, temperatures may become excessive at midday and the caterpillars may retreat to the shaded outside surface of the tent to cool down.
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outbreaks do not follow true cycles in the sense that they occur at regular intervals, some particularly prone regions have recorded outbreaks every ten years or so. Caterpillars rarely remain in outbreak numbers for more than two to three years. Factors which bring outbreaks to a close include parasitoids and disease. In some cases populations collapse because caterpillars starve to death either because trees are completely defoliated before the caterpillars are fully grown or because the quality of host leaves declines to the point where they are no longer palatable. Defoliated trees typically refoliate after caterpillar attacks and experience no lasting damage. In some cases, however, trees or parts of trees may be killed after several seasons of repeated defoliation. This has occurred when forest tent caterpillars defoliated
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their way back to the tent. If a caterpillar finds food and feeds to repletion, it returns to the tent, laying down a recruitment trail that serves to recruit hungry tent mates to its food find. The chemical nature of the pheromone has been determined, but it is unclear how exploratory and recruitment trails differ. The chemical recruitment trail of the eastern tent caterpillar is remarkably similar to the pheromone trails that are used by ants and termites to alert nest mates to the discovery of food.
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en masse, moving to distant feeding sites. Immediately after feeding the caterpillars return to the tent and aggregate in sunlight to facilitate the digestive process. Thus, eastern tent caterpillars are central place foragers. In contrast, the forest tent caterpillar is a nomadic forager that establishes a series of temporary resting sites during the course of its larval development.
407:(fecal pellets) nearly half of the energy they ingest. As a consequence, a colony of caterpillars produces large quantities of frass. This is particularly noticeable during outbreaks of the forest tent caterpillar. Frass dropping from treetops in which the caterpillars are feeding create the auditory illusion of rainfall. Tent caterpillars typically have five to six larval
424:. Spumaline is hydrophilic and prevents the eggs from drying out. It also serves as a protective covering which limits the ability of small wasps to parasitize the eggs. Although the male moth may live for a week or more, the female dies soon after laying her eggs. Thus, the whole of the female's adult life may take place in fewer than 24 hours.
343:. Twenty-six species have been described, six of which occur in North America and the rest in Eurasia. Some species are considered to have subspecies as well. They are often considered pests for their habit of defoliating trees. They are among the most social of all caterpillars and exhibit many noteworthy behaviors.
411:. It is estimated that the last instar consumes about 80% of all the food taken in by a larva during the whole of its life cycle. Consequently, it is not uncommon for populations of forest tent caterpillars to go unnoticed until the last instar, when their feeding causes extensive defoliation of trees.
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The digestive physiology of tent caterpillars is tuned to young leaves, and their need to complete their larval development before the leaves of the host trees become too aged for them to eat compels them to feed several times each day. At the onset of a bout of foraging, caterpillars leave the tent
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larvae lie sequestered within the shells of the eggs until the following spring. Henceforth, these encased larvae are the most durable of the insect's life stages. In northern areas, the pharate larvae are highly freeze-tolerant and can withstand midwinter temperatures of −40 °C (−40 °F)
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Studies have shown that eastern tent caterpillars recruit their tent mates to go on food finds. Caterpillars move from the tent in search of food, laying down an exploratory pheromone trail as they pass over the branches of the host tree. These chemical exploratory trails allow caterpillars to find
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Tent caterpillars exhibit boom-or-bust population dynamics. The most notorious of the outbreak species is the forest tent caterpillar. During outbreaks, the caterpillars can become so abundant that they are capable of completely defoliating tens of thousands of acres of forest. Even though these
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Caterpillars grow rapidly and typically complete their larval development in seven to eight weeks. When fully grown, the caterpillars leave the natal tree and seek protected places on the ground or under the eaves of buildings to spin their cocoons. About two weeks later, they emerge as adults.
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Tent caterpillars hatch from their eggs in the early spring at the time the leaves of their host trees are just unfolding. The caterpillars establish their tent soon after they hatch. The tent is constructed at a site that intercepts the early morning sun. The position of the tent is critical
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which draws males to her. Mating typically occurs in the early evening and the mated female, already fully laden with eggs, typically oviposits the full complement later that same evening. The eggs are placed around the circumference of a branch and covered with a frothy material called
372:, build a single large tent which is typically occupied through the whole of the larval stage, while others build a series of small tents that are sequentially abandoned. Whereas tent caterpillars make their tents in the nodes and branches of a tree's limbs,
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is based on that of the eastern tent caterpillar, the best-known species. The details of the life histories of other species vary to a small extent.
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Leaves consist largely of nondigestible components, and it has been estimated that tent caterpillars void as
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begins. Within three weeks or so, small larvae can be found within each egg mass. These
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Shortly after eclosing from the cocoon, the female moth secretes a
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tents in the branches of host trees. Some species, such as the
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enclose leaves and small branches at the ends of the limbs.
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Tent caterpillars are readily recognized because they are
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A group of tent caterpillars climbing a tree to eat
49:. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed.
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384:The following description of the tent caterpillar
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366:, and caterpillars of the small eggar moth,
444:that were already stressed due to drought.
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427:Shortly after the egg mass is deposited,
109:Learn how and when to remove this message
555:. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press.
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596:Lepidoptera and Some Other Life Forms
16:Moth larvae from the genus Malacosoma
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47:adding citations to reliable sources
510:Several tent caterpillars on a nest
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522:A tent caterpillar nest in the UK
547:Fitzgerald, Terrence D. (1995).
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333:larvae, belonging to the genus
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498:Eastern tent caterpillar tent
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456:Western tent caterpillars
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152:Scientific classification
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570:Fitzgerald, Terrence D.
360:eastern tent caterpillar
284:western tent caterpillar
274:eastern tent caterpillar
141:Eastern tent caterpillar
592:Hübner, [1820]"
304:forest tent caterpillar
279:Malacosoma californicum
354:and build conspicuous
572:"Social Caterpillars"
551:The Tent Caterpillars
364:Malacosoma americanum
325:are moderately sized
269:Malacosoma americanum
145:Malacosoma americanum
485:Malacosoma neustrium
369:Eriogaster lanestris
309:Malacosoma neustrium
299:Malacosoma disstrium
289:Malacosoma castrense
262:About 26, including:
43:improve this article
625:Insect common names
126:Tent caterpillars
58:"Tent caterpillar"
323:Tent caterpillars
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599:. Retrieved
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534:Fall webworm
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41:Please help
36:verification
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481:Lackey moth
314:lackey moth
209:Lepidoptera
620:Malacosoma
614:Categories
590:Malacosoma
541:References
436:or lower.
386:life cycle
380:Life cycle
336:Malacosoma
240:Malacosoma
189:Arthropoda
69:newspapers
422:spumaline
417:pheromone
175:Kingdom:
169:Eukaryota
528:See also
215:Family:
185:Phylum:
179:Animalia
165:Domain:
99:May 2014
601:July 1,
433:pharate
409:instars
352:diurnal
255:Species
235:Genus:
225:Tribe:
205:Order:
199:Insecta
195:Class:
83:scholar
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348:social
248:, 1822
246:Hübner
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405:frass
329:, or
90:JSTOR
76:books
603:2019
557:ISBN
356:silk
331:moth
62:news
45:by
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