Eastern Tent Caterpillar

These pests emerge in late spring and early summer. They can defoliate trees and, more commonly, cover them in silk nests which are particularly unattractive. These nests can grow to the point that they take over the entire tree. The larva can be pests in and of themselves, but pesticides are generally uneffective against them. Unlike Fall Webworm nests, their nests are at the centers of trees. Nests can be removed by hand.

The best control for eastern tent caterpillars is to remove the egg masses (pictured left) from trees by scraping the mass off the tree and destroying them.

Burning the nests is not reccomended for any of these pests, because this will damage the tree!