Eastern Tent Caterpillar

Found in deciduous forests, suburban landscapes, and orchards, specifically on host trees like cherry, apple, and crabapple.

Larvae are folivores that consume the leaves of host trees; adults do not feed.

Social larvae that construct communal silk tents in the crotches of tree branches for protection and thermoregulation. They emerge from the tent to feed several times a day and follow silk trails to find leaves.

Can cause significant defoliation to host trees, which is aesthetically unpleasing but rarely kills healthy trees. They are a food source for birds and other wildlife, though their hairs can cause irritation to some animals and skin irritation in sensitive humans.