Easter Tent Caterpillar

[Tyger]

My wifes kids from school found a bunch of these caterpillars on the side of the school and took a few in to study the behavior and how they grow. I took 2 home to take some pics of course :) But I'll be learning about them as well and providing the children pictures of this caterpillar.

I'm pretty sure from what I've read that it is an Eastern Tent Caterpillar

http://www.monzoncreative.com/Photography/macro/easterntent-caterpillar1.jpg

http://www.monzoncreative.com/Photography/macro/easterntent-caterpillar2.jpg

http://www.monzoncreative.com/Photography/macro/easterntent-caterpillar3.jpg

http://www.monzoncreative.com/Photography/macro/easterntent-caterpillar4.jpg

http://www.monzoncreative.com/Photography/macro/easterntent-caterpillar5.jpg

[cnic]

Cool pics. Very cool to see so close.

Thanks!

.

[budafist]

Reminds me of the wispy orange fur of a baby orangutan!

http://img266.imageshack.us/img266/3494/picture1md7.png

[Red Kittie Kat]

Awesome shots Tyger! :)

[PrintDriver]

Those look an awful lot like our Gypsy Moths. Imported to the US in the hopes of harvesting their silk by an 'amateur' breeder, rumor has it that the idiot with this bright idea dropped some out the window and now every summer in the Northeast they become a scourge to the native forests, eating every leaf off the deciduous trees until it looks like winter in July. Not to mention dung that sounds like raindrops and will ruin the finish on your car if you don't wash it off regularly.
Devastating bug. Hard to kill without harming the few birds that eat them.

Nice pic. Bad bug.

[Drazan]

Sorry PD, I think you're wrong on this one. The Gypsy has these odd red & blue bumps with a black body. These are Eastern Tent Caterpillar with the stripes of yellow.

Had to google it. :D

[icekitty37]

ewwwwwwwwww! so close up!
i wish i had been warned lol

[PrintDriver]

Huh. For all these years these "Gypsy Moth" infestations have been Forest Tent Caterpillars.
Hopefully the people treating for these things know the difference.
Thanks Drazan.

[morea]

Hopefully the people treating for these things know the difference.

My dad used to burn them out of the trees in our back yard with a blow torch. That worked pretty well.

Nice shots, Tyger, but these things still creep me out!

[budafist]

My dad used to burn them out of the trees in our back yard with a blow torch. That worked pretty well.

Nice shots, Tyger, but these things still creep me out!

Charming! Caterpiller hor doeuvres!

[Red Kittie Kat]

thats the only way to get rid of them around here without using pesticides. They are nasty creatures.

[morea]

^ yup. And they'll take over your whole yard if you let them!

[Randomhero]

MMMMM gasoline in watergun + lighter = instacaterpillardeath.

[Tea]

Very cool pictures.

[Broacher]

One year, in my late teens, I went camping in northern Ontario with a few of my buddies. We camped along a river not too far from some small northern town. It was one of those years where the gypsy moth population had a phenomenal spike and I can tell you I have never seen anything quite like it since.

Because we were close to the river shore, where the tree coverage was lighter, we were spared these things raining on us all the time. But they run out of food see, and drop and start to crawl. By the time they get to the river, they don't know where to go. The first six feet or so of shoreline was solid black/brown with their wiggling bodies. We hadn't brought water, planning instead to drink the river water, but every time we dipped a bucket in (after unavoidably 'culling' the herd into nice mucky paste), each bucket would contain at least a dozen caterpillar bodies. When we woke up in the morning, it seemed like night still because the caterpillars had covered the outside of the tent solid.

And you wouldn't think you'd ever have to worry about bug poo. But when there's enough of them.

That was one long weekend, for sure.

[Red Kittie Kat]

Oh wow :eek:

I would have had to leave ... either move spots or just go back home. I am so not a bug person ... they don't bother me a lot but if they are close to me I will get very anxious.

I bet you were kinda thirsty too ;)

[Broacher]

That's why we were so glad to find a bar in the nearby town.

[frankster]

That was my aproach to dealing with the knee deep mud at Glastonbury. Get so wasted that it didn't bother me ;)

[tuliptree]

Be careful handling them Tyger, tent caterpillars are classified as "stinging caterpillars." While they don't sting like bees and wasps, their hairs can cause allergic reactions. A good friend of mine put her hand in a glove and one was in it. She reacted terribly to it (of note, it did not spread, but she said it was painful, and her hand was swollen and irritated for quite some time).

[Broacher]

One thing you don't hear people talking a lot about in all the climate change talk is insect plagues. Expect a lot more of these, and at the good Old Testament scale. Insects, with their fast-food reproduction are so quick to take advantage of environmental changes that other species take generations to adapt to (assuming if they survive).

Anyone else hear about the white-nose syndrome that's killing off bats in North America in record numbers? That's going to mean a lot more bugs too.

That disease hasn't been seen in Canada (so far). We are seeing a real bumper year for blackflies though because of record high water levels.

Blackflies! Yow. Unbelievably maddening and relentless. They'd make a great torture tool. Oops, better keep quiet in case any intelligence types are listening in.

[Red Kittie Kat]

Oh we already see the increase in black flies ... they are torturous little creatures indeed.

I heard about that white nose issue a while back .. they don't seem to talk about it much right now. I was wondering what the progress on it was.

[Kristine65]

Really nice macros, Tyger. You should keep them until they cocoon and show use what they look like when they hatch :D