Forest Tent Caterpillars Extermination

The Forest Tent Caterpillars ("FTC"),Malacosoma disstria Hübner, sometimes wrongly called armyworms due to the caterpillar's habit of crawling together over the ground while searching for food. This pest is an important defoliator (they deprive the plants of their leaves) of a variety of deciduous hardwood trees (deciduous refers to trees that lose their foliage at the end of the growing season) (Batzer and Morris 1978).

Infestations of FTC are not restricted to a specific tree species. They have a selection of host plants to choose from, such as oaks, gums, basswood, cherry, plum and trembling aspen. In addition, during outbreaks, large caterpillars can be seen feeding on citrus, pine, loquat, azalea, and rose (Dixon and Foltz 1991).

Besides stripping off the leaves from desirable trees, these bugs leave behind unsightly mess of fecal maters, which may render one's backyard useless.