Outdoor Elements
Tent Caterpillars
Clip | 2m 29sVideo has Closed Captions
Have you noticed these in the forest? Spiders don't make these webs!
Have you noticed these in the forest? Spiders don't make these webs! Tent caterpillars live in groups within a silken tent and provide a good food source for native birds.
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Outdoor Elements is a local public television program presented by PBS Michiana
Outdoor Elements
Tent Caterpillars
Clip | 2m 29sVideo has Closed Captions
Have you noticed these in the forest? Spiders don't make these webs! Tent caterpillars live in groups within a silken tent and provide a good food source for native birds.
Problems playing video? | Closed Captioning Feedback
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Learn Moreabout PBS online sponsorshipLook what I found while out hiking today.
It's the web of the eastern tent caterpillar.
You may have even seen these in your own backyard.
Tent caterpillars are often found in black cherry trees, but sometimes crab apple trees as well.
And even some of our fruit trees, the tent caterpillars are dark, black and striped.
They have a light colored stripe down their back.
And if you look closely, they're even covered with little hairs.
So why the web?
Well, as the caterpillars feed on the leaves of the tree, they actually spin this silken mass, and that provides protection.
If it's really hot or if there is rain, they kind of duck inside.
The caterpillars come out at dusk or in the evening, even overnight, sometimes to feed on the leaves.
It's not exceedingly harmful to the tree, even if it completely deflates the tree, because in the springtime, the trees have time to reach foliage.
And in fact, those hairy caterpillars are a great source of food for our native black build and yellow billed cuckoos.
These long tail birds are able to pick apart the web and snatch out those apparently tasty caterpillars.
When the caterpillars have grown and their mass of webbing is even larger, eventually they venture out to find a place where it is sheltered and they can spin a cocoon.
After a few weeks, they will emerge as a nondescript brown moth called the Eastern ten caterpillar moth, who in late summer will lay eggs on the crotch of another black cherry tree.
And the cycle begins again.
The eggs actually overwinter here, and the caterpillars don't come out until spring.
So if you find the eastern tent Caterpillar Web, just let it be because it provides great food for some of our native songbirds.
Remember, you can find your own outdoor elements when you visit area parks and nature centers.
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Outdoor Elements is a local public television program presented by PBS Michiana