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The eastern tent caterpillar (Malacosoma americanum) is a species of moth in the family Lasiocampidae, the tent caterpillars or lappet moths. It is univoltine , producing one generation per year. It is a tent caterpillar , a social species that forms communal nests in the branches of trees.
When fully grown, the caterpillars leave the natal tree and seek protected places on the ground or under the eaves of buildings to spin their cocoons. About two weeks later, they emerge as adults. Shortly after eclosing from the cocoon, the female moth secretes a pheromone which draws males to her. Mating typically occurs in the early evening ...
The caterpillars are black, grey, or white with an orange stripe running longitudinally across the body. There are blue-white lines on each segment with dispersed setae extruding from the body. Pupae are 2-2.5 centimeters and reddish-brown to black in colour. Pupae spin a white silken cocoon, powdered in white and yellow.
As caterpillars, they tend to feed on a wide range of host plants. This includes oak, apple, birch, willow, hackberry, cherry and coniferous trees such as fir and spruce.
After the larvae of Glyptapanteles sp. emerge, the caterpillar takes up position near the cocoons of the pupae, arches its back, and ceases to move or feed. It will occasionally spin silk over the pupae. However, when disturbed, it begins to thrash violently. No longer inclined to eat, the affected caterpillar eventually dies. [7]
Caterpillars are typically voracious feeders and many of them are among the most serious of agricultural pests. In fact, many moth species are best known in their caterpillar stages because of the damage they cause to fruits and other agricultural produce, whereas the moths are obscure and do no direct harm. Conversely, various species of ...
Following hatching in the caterpillar, the wasp larvae will undergo 2 molts inside the host caterpillar's hemocoel and, after 12 to 16 days post oviposition, the 3rd instar wasp larvae will emerge from the caterpillar and spin cocoons from which the adult wasps fly about 4 to 8 days later. [3]
A cocoon is a casing spun of silk by many moths and caterpillars, [16] and numerous other holometabolous insect larvae as a protective covering for the pupa. Cocoons may be tough or soft, opaque or translucent, solid or meshlike, of various colors, or composed of multiple layers, depending on the type of insect larva producing it.