How to Get Rid of Tent Caterpillars

There are three equally annoying varieties of tent worms: forest tent, Eastern tent and gypsy moth. Tent worms can cause major defoliation of deciduous trees, depending on the severity of outbreak. If you're feeling frustrated by an outbreak of tent worms, there are a few things you can do to try and control these prolific pests.

Difficulty:

Moderately Challenging

Instructions

Things You'll Need

• Sticky Tape
• Microbial insecticide
• Chemical insecticides
• Pruners
• Bird houses
• Bat houses
• Beneficial parasites

1. Manually remove tent nests and egg cases during dusk or early morning. Look for the egg cases first thing in the spring. Tent worms are usually breeding through July. Place the nests into soapy water.

2. Install sticky tapes or sticky tree wraps at the base of trees to catch the worms on their way up or down the trees. While very effective, you must stay on top of it and remove "full' sticky traps and replace regularly.

3. Apply microbial insecticides, especially to trees with multiple nests. Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) is the most common. As BT is naturally occurring in soil and on plants, it is also harmless to people, animals and plants but is not specific to which species of young moth or butterfly larvae it kills.

4. Encourage natural predators by putting up bird houses, bat houses and investigating beneficial insect/parasite purchases.

Tips & Warnings

• If many maple trees are affected (and they will cause severe decrease of sap collection), your state or county officials may grant the area a professionally done aerial pesticide attack.

• Ingestion of tent worms by pregnant horses can cause them to miscarry. Keep stables well protected.

References

• The University of Kentucky; Tent Caterpillars; Joe Collins
• Gardening Know How; Tent Worms: Tent Caterpillar Home Remedy; Nikki Phipps

Resources

• Caterpillar Comparison Chart