In the eastern and central states, the caterpillar is hairy and black with white stripes. along its sides it displays narrow brown and yellow lines and a row of blue spots. In the west, the caterpillar is orange-brown, with blue dots on the back and sides. The caterpillar will grow to about 2" long. The adult moth has beige to brown wings with a wingspan of about 1 1/4". It lays eggs in a ring around twigs, and covers them with a shiny, hard substance.
Symptoms include large tentlike, silken nests filled with smal caterpillars in the forks of branches. Trees become defoliated.
Trees affected include apples, cherries, and pears. In the south, you can drive down the road and see webs all over trees of any kind. In fact, I saw a bunch of them just last week on my trip home to Mississippi. Trees start to die after they become extremely defoliated to where they cannot collect sunlight for photosynthesis through their leaves.
Best control is to remove the nests and destroy caterpillars by hand. Spray the tree with Bt as soon as you see the nests begin to reappear and repeat every 5-7 days until the pest is gone. Doing this by hand is only recommended for your fruit trees in your yards and small orchards. It could take forever if you went around your woods and large orchards trying to kill hundreds or thousands of this pest.
Burlap wrapped around the trunk will trap mature larvae as they crawl down the tree to find a place to pupate. Check it daily to collect and kill the pest.
Birds such as bluebirds, orioles, and chickadees love to eat these caterpillars. Ground beetles, praying mantids, and digger wasps enjoy preying on the pest.
Butterfly milkweed hosts parasites of tent caterpillars as do plants of the carrot family: celery, dill, parsnips, and queen anne's lace. Plant plenty of these among your trees.
In winter, look for egg bands around your trees trunks, fences, and house siding. Scrap off the eggs and destroy them.
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