Tent Caterpillars

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Tent Caterpillars
Photo Information
Copyright: Bill Nesnidal (fightingillini) (79)
Genre: Animals
Medium: Color
Date Taken: 2008-04-26
Categories: Insects
Camera: SONY DSC W90
Exposure: f/8, 1/100 seconds
More Photo Info: [view]
Photo Version: Original Version
Date Submitted: 2008-05-02 12:55
Viewed: 268
Points: 2
[Note Guidelines] Photographer's Note
I took this picture in Shawnee National Forest in Southern Illinois. The little nests were all over the trees.

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The forest tent caterpillar (Malacosoma disstria Hubner)3 may be found throughout the United States and Canada wherever hardwoods grow. It is a native insect that has attracted attention since colonial times. Regionwide outbreaks have occurred at intervals varying from 6 to 16 years in northern areas. Southern gum forests in southwest Alabama and southern Louisiana have had continuous infestations, especially in water tupelo "ponds," since 1948. Here, varying degrees of defoliation occur annually in 3.5 million acres (1.4 million hectares) of gum forests.

****info from: http://www.na.fs.fed.us/spfo/pubs/fidls/ftc/tentcat.htm

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Critiques [Translate]

Hello Bill,

Are you sure on that ID? Looks more like the Eastern Tent Caterpillar, Malacosoma americana, the solid cream-colored stripe down the back is indicative of that species as opposed to the intermittent white markings on the back of M. disstria.

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