How to Prevent Tent Caterpillars
Tent caterpillars get their name from the silken tent-like covering that they weave from a material produced in the glands in their heads. This tent protects the insects from natural predators as they feed. Tent caterpillars have a wide plant host range, including shrubs and fruit trees like cherry and apple. Left uncontrolled, the pests cause extensive to complete defoliation. The lack of leaves makes trees more susceptible to drought, cold damage and disease. You can prevent tent caterpillars through a number of methods. Does this Spark an idea?
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Instructions
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Introduce natural predators of the tent flies into infested trees. These include tachinid fly that feeds on the caterpillars. Using natural predators to control the pests is a relatively slow process.
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Remove the brown or gray, frothy-textured egg cases of the caterpillars manually from the tree. These are often hardened and look like Styrofoam. You can locate these one-and-a-half-inch long casings on the twigs. You can either pick them by hand or prune out the twigs.
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Use the biological insecticide Bacillus thuringiensis or Bt for effective control of the pests. The advantage of this biological insecticide is that it is relatively safe for other non-target insects in the tree, and birds and warm-blooded animals.
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Apply insecticide during early morning or evening, as this is when the pests are in their tents. Use a high-pressure sprayer to penetrate the tents. You do not have to spray the entire tree for effective control, but only the insect tent and immediate foliage near the tent.
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Tips & Warnings
Insecticides are most effective when used on newly hatched larvae. Do not wait for the caterpillars to mature before initiating control strategies. Spraying will not get rid of the casings. You will have to remove these manually or wait for them to weather away.
Use caution when spraying insecticides near vegetables gardens. If your infested trees are located near edible plants and crops, buy products that are registered for use near these plants. Cover non-target plants and vegetable beds with newspaper or plastic before using chemicals.
