Are you in doubt about how to get rid of tent caterpillars? Don’t worry because we’re going to help you with that; we’ll teach you some steps that you can quickly execute.
Indeed, the eastern tent caterpillars are considered more of an eyesore than being a nuisance. More so, it might not be very comfortable to see a tent worm crawling in your car tent or even so on an event tent.
For some people, tent caterpillars freely crawling on or inside the car tent can be genuinely terrifying. Imagine that only one of these caterpillars is scary to look at; how much more if you see a whole lot more!
In this article, we will give you some advice on how to avoid these tent caterpillars. You also need a lot of considerations, so if you are ready, let us now start!
What Are Tent Caterpillars?
Tent caterpillars are also known as tent worms. There has been confusion about a tent caterpillar and fall webworms, but they are both different.
These tent worms are incredibly active in the early spring season, while webworms are mostly active in fall.
These worms would want to live on wild cherry trees and other ornamental fruit trees. A small number of these worms are not harmful to trees, but they will cause the tree to defoliate on the extreme count.
These tent worms will feed on the leaves making the tree susceptible to diseases and other issues.
A fully grown tent caterpillar can reach two inches in length. They are hairy, black in color, and is incorporated with pale blue spots on either side of its body.
On their backs, they have a white stripe, which makes them easy to identify. Though they can be found in ornamental plants, they can also be located on some shade trees.
So, how can I identify tent caterpillars from webworms?
Tent worms make their nests on the branches of the tree and do not enclose foliage within. On the other hand, the fall webworms’ nest is found on the end of branches and encloses the leaves within the nest.
Steps On How To Eliminate Tent Caterpillars
If ornamentals surround your backyard, you won’t be shocked if there would be some tent caterpillars crawling on the event tent that you assembled during family gatherings.
These ferocious creatures are also known for infesting cars and damages the paint due to their droppings.
We will teach you different steps and methods on how to get rid of tent caterpillars that can surely harm your stuff. These are the following:
Step #1. Scrape them off
Since eggs can be visible to your naked eye, you can scrape them off using your hand. Overwintering eggs can be ignored, and the egg cases can also be seen easily once the leaves drop in the fall season.
Ensure that you do this activity in the early morning or evening because these are the times when they most likely nest. For sure, you can catch them quickly.
Step #2. Lure them
You can also have the option of introducing natural enemies to the tent worms. There are quite a few types of parasitic wasps that can reduce their number considerably.
This method is also a good one, for it does not require you to spend money on chemicals.
As a home remedy, you can create a welcoming environment for birds to feed on the tent caterpillars.
Step #3. Either use home remedy or chemicals
Small infestations of these worms can be taken care of by dropping their nest on soapy water. For larger groups, you can use contact insecticides to do a thorough cleaning operation.
Explicitly speaking, Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) is one of the most effective chemicals that you can use.
Step #4. Spray directly to the infected area
Apply the spray directly to the foliage and on the nests to ensure that these worms are completely eliminated. This method is one of the most effective ways of killing or eliminating these unwanted tent worms.
Step #5. Use other methods if the previous one is not effective
Another method that you can do is that you can crush them or place them on a soapy bucket of water if you see a crawling tent caterpillar.
Then, dispose of their remains so that you can be sure there are no eggs that are left on the area. If I were you, know the simple ways on how to clean a tent.
Step #6. Employ insecticide
Your last resort can be the fast-acting botanical insecticides. These are derived from plants with insecticidal properties that have fewer harmful side effects than those of commercial insecticides.
They even break down even quickly in the environment, so you can be rest assured that they won’t bring any danger.
Conclusion
You can quickly get rid of tent worms if you will follow the methods correctly. I know that you surely do not want to let these nuisances to ruin your car paint as well as to scare off your guests during a tent event in your backyard, right?
There are a lot of options on how to get rid of tent caterpillars. All you have to do is select the best way according to the list we presented to you.
But for me, the most important is to find its nest and take it away.
Good luck with your clearing operation, and we hope you had tons of valuable information through this article. Thank you for reading!