Author: Lindsey Stone

The forest tent caterpillar is a native defoliating insect present throughout the eastern U.S. This insect is typically not a problem but can occasionally reach outbreak populations that are capable of wide-scale defoliation in hardwood forests.

In the spring, just as the leaves are starting to expand on trees, silken webs sometimes appear on tree branches and stems – they start small, then gradually increase in size until they can be...