The Eastern tent caterpillar is the larva stage of a rather nondescript small brown moth. (Trust me. It’s small and brown. You’d hardly notice it. Did I say nondescript?)
Early last summer, the female adult moths laid their varnish-coated egg masses—hundreds of eggs—in the crotches of trees. They were very particular. They only laid their eggs on the trees whose leaves their young would eat. Cherries, apples and crabapples are their most common host plants.
The eggs remain there for over nine months. In early spring the tiny larvae hatch and begin spinning a small silken tent where they live protected during the day. At night the caterpillars venture out to eat leaves; their sole purpose in life.
They return to their nests each morning and because they've grown—which tends to happen if you eat all night—they add to their nest to accommodate their new bulk.
People often panic when they see these tents in their trees. But relax. They are really just natural birdfeeders. Only a same percentage of these caterpillars survive, the birds eat most of them. The other day I watched a blue jay standing on top of one of the tents gobbling down caterpillars as fast as it could.
I wonder what they taste like? A bit hairy, I would imagine.
4 comments:
Chloe found a little caterpillar like that a couple of days ago. Poor thing, it has been living in her "nature" box in the house ever since. It may be nondescript but it holds a world of fascination for her little mind. :) Thanks for the cool information about them.
Hello britecloud
How's Texas? The caterpillars are actually pretty fancy——spots, stripes, long hairs. They just grow up to be rather plain brown moths.
I first learned this when I was a kid and put one of the caterpillars in my "nature box." I fed it cherry leaves until it spun its cocoon. A few weeks later a small brown moth emerged. I was a little disappointed; I expected something bigger and flashier.
It’s good to hear from you. Give Chloe a hug for me. What else does she like to put into her nature box?
Well, let's see... there has been the occasional frog (not counting the one I found in her closet, or the dead one under her bed, yuck!). And there was the plethora of rolly pollies she and Beck collected.
Thankfully she's not into spiders.
Or.snakes.
And once she got past trying to make lizards dance, some of them have actually lived.
You would probably be quite amused to take a nature walk with her. She "discovered" the "Albino Buttercup Flower". They are really quite rare, you know. (Even though there is a whole field of them outside our back yard.) (And they aren't Albino.) (Or rare.)
I wish you could meet her. :)
britecloud
Sounds like you have a real curious naturalist there. Be careful, that's how I started.
Insects actually make pretty good temporary pets. (Most other animals are protected by state laws and cannot be turned into pets.)
Insects are not long commitments because their life spans are so short. The trick is finding out just what they eat. The tent caterpillars only eat certain leaves: cherry, apple, crabapple. A few years ago, I kept a Hercules beetle alive for weeks when I figured out it loved bananas.
Yes, I’d enjoy meeting her and seeing those albino buttercups.
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