Re: tent caterpillers

Thanks so much for the response.  I am an organic gardener, and have an
enormous number of beneficial insects in my gardens.  But this infestation
was here when I moved here 5 years ago, and has gotten much, much worse.
It's endemic in cherries throughout this part of WV.  This is the first year
I have noticed the egg cases, and until your email, didn't know what they
were.  I'll work at removing them where I can reach them in the future.  As
for now, the entire upper part of the tree, where I can't reach, is full of
webs and larvae.
Merri Morgan
Zone 5b, WV
----- Original Message ----- 
From: <LONDE@aol.com>
To: <perennials@hort.net>
Sent: Friday, April 25, 2003 4:34 PM
Subject: tent caterpillers


>
> Merri,
> No need for desperation. Tent caterpillars are unsightly but they won't
kill
> a healthy tree. You need to be more concerned if your trees are already
> stressed by other factors. The damage is done early enough in the season
that
> the tree, even if fully defoliated, can grow new leaves. Of course, that
> takes a lot of energy and is not good for the tree. Repeated defoliation
year
> after year will certainly greatly weaken a tree and may eventually kill it
by
> making it vulnerable to other pests and disease. You should take care that
> your infected trees get enough nutrients and especially water.
>
> The best treatment is usually just to knock the webs out of the tree with
a
> cloth bag over a broom, a pole, a hockey stick or whatever else is handy.
> Insecticides and burning are not necessary. This should be done in the
very
> early morning, late evening or when it is rainy, cool and overcast as that
is
> when the critters will be inside the webs. When you knock down the webs
then,
> you take the larvae out, too.  If you just take down the webs while they
are
> out munching (usually when it is warm and sunny), they will just build
more
> webs and go on with their nasty little lives.
>
> The adult is a flying moth (the most common species is brown with white).
The
> eggs overwinter on stems and hatch when the trees start to leaf out in the
> spring. The new larvae crawl to the branch crotches and form webbing. They
> leave the web during the day to feed on new leaves and return to the web
at
> night. They pupate in a cocoon and the flying adult moth hatches in the
> summer and lays eggs (in July in the Midwest). Thank goodness, there is
only
> one generation a year. You can see the egg masses on the branches -- they
are
> dark brown and appear varnished.
>
> The adult doesn't do any damage.  It is the larvae that feed on the trees.
> If you can remove the egg cases, there will be no larvae.  Since you
cannot
> reach all of the webs, you probably can't reach all of the egg cases,
either.
> But removing as many as you can would be a help.
>
> They are usually kept in control by natural predators, but it sounds like
> there are not enough of those in your area. (Pardon the sermon here, but
the
> use of pesticides kills predators, too, and that is often why they are not
> present when needed.) There is a biological control for tent caterpillars,
> Bacillus thuringiensis var. kurstaki. Just go to a garden center and ask
for
> Bt for tent caterpillars and follow the directions on the bottle.
>
> If you do decide to use a pesticide, and I wouldn't because you need all
of
> the predators you can get, keep in mind that it will not help when the
larvae
> are in the tents because the webs protect them. The coating on the egg
masses
> protects them, also. So, it only helps to apply insecticide when the moths
> are flying or the larvae are out crawling. Otherwise you will only be
killing
> beneficial insects and that will only make your problem worse.
>
> I hope this helps and good luck to you. --Janis
>
>
> In a message dated 4/25/03 11:02:31 AM Central Daylight Time,
> perennials-owner@hort.net writes:
>
>
> > From: "Merri Morgan" <mmorgan@wcgnet.net>
> > Subject: tent caterpillers
> >
> > Every year the infestation of these disgusting little pests is worse in
the
> > small wild cherry tree that shades some of my shade garden.  I use Neem
and
> > burn out other tents with old t-shirts tied on a long pole, but I can't
> > reach most of the tents.  I live in fear that the tree will be totally
> > defoliated or even killed.  Is there any way to prevent the  infestation
in
> > the first place?  How do they get there?  Is it from a flying critter or
> > something that climbs the trunk?  If the latter, would tanglefoot work?
> > I'm
> > getting desperate here.
> > Merri Morgan
> > Zone 5b, WV
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