Information About Western Tent Caterpillars

Western tent caterpillars can pose to be an irritating pest to your home landscaping, but western tent caterpillar is virtually harmless to humans.

The Western tent caterpillars are scientifically known as Malacosoma Californicum (Packard). This species is mostly found in hardwood parts in North America and are considered the most common pests in these areas. They defoliate trees over thousands of acres. Despite, the defoliation, the tree mortality is almost none. The only mortal defoliation they can effect is on the bitterbush, which is a favorite browse for most deer. The Western tent caterpillars occur mainly in the months of May and June.

How to recognize the Western tent caterpillars? The western tent caterpillars are mostly found on hardwood trees like the Aspen, the willows, the cottonwoods and the mountain mahogany trees. They are of a moderate size and are mostly 4 to 5 cm. in length. Their bodies are normally are in combination of blue, black and orange with the head in blue and black. They are born of hairy yellow larvae with a broken blue stripe on the back and spread very quickly.

The Western tent caterpillars can be traced easily by marking the tents that they build for staying. Although, they mostly stay within the confines of their tents, they are also known to venture out in search of juicy food. They caused limited damage to hardwood trees and usually include minor branch break and sparse foliage. The western tent caterpillars lay eggs in spring and hatch when new foliage arrives in spring. The larvae hatch out of them almost in the same season. They start building tents and consume the adjacent foliage resulting in the silk tents being built upon almost naked branches.

They are nocturnal creatures and tend to stay within their silk tents during the daytime. During the nights, they feed the larvae and collect food. The western tent caterpillars feed individually and are not found from mid-March to late-June in a year. This is due to the fact that the larvae born in late spring normally break out in early to mid-June.

As the theory of evolution goes, there are many a predators that feed on western tent caterpillars. However, they are seasonal and hence undependable. If there is a infestation of western tent caterpillars in your neighborhood, there are a lot of pesticides available to weed them out. Pruning out the tents and destroying them could be a good option. If you decide on such a measure, early morning, or evening are the best times since the western tent caterpillars congregate at these times.

In case of a forest infestation, there is no need to use insecticides. Usually, a western tent caterpillar infestation lasts two to three years and dies out due to parasites and diseases. So, unless the infestation occurs on a commercial plantation or a garden, use of insecticides is not necessary since these caterpillars do no effect the mortality of the infested trees.

Western Tent Caterpillar Review
Western tent caterpillars feed on deciduous trees and shrubs and are known for widespread defoliation by mid-summer in Sierra, Nevada and Rocky Mountains region. Complete defoliation also occurs with less frequency in New Mexico.

The western tent caterpillar has a life-span of 1-year. Western tent caterpillars mate and lay eggs around mid-July through the beginning of August. Female western tent caterpillars usually produce only one egg mass.