tent caterpillar

Any of several destructive caterpillars of the family Lasiocampidae, especially of the genus Malacosoma, that live in colonies and construct silken tentlike webs in the branches of trees.

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

tent caterpillar

(Animals) the larva of various moths of the family Lasiocampidae, esp Malacosoma americana of North America, which build communal webs in trees

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

tent′ cat`erpillar

any of the larvae of several moths of the genus Malacosoma, which feed on the leaves of deciduous trees and live colonially in a tentlike silken web.

[1850–55, Amer.]

ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

Noun

tent caterpillar - the larvae of moths that build and live in communal silken webs in orchard and shade trees

genus Malacosoma, Malacosoma - tent caterpillars

forest tent caterpillar, Malacosoma disstria - larvae of a gregarious North American moth that spins a web resembling a carpet rather than a tent; serious defoliator of deciduous trees

caterpillar - a wormlike and often brightly colored and hairy or spiny larva of a butterfly or moth

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References in periodicals archive

Cloning the Bacillus thuringiensis Toxin Receptor of the Eastern Tent Caterpillar Malacosoma americanum.

Biochemistry and molecular biology

Daily foraging schedule of field colonies of the eastern tent caterpillar Malacosoma americanum.

Vertical distribution and seasonality of predatory wasps (Hymenoptera: Vespidae) in a temperate deciduous forest

Life history and agespecific mortality of eastern tent caterpillar (Lepidoptera: Lasiocampidae).

Occurrence and biology of Tolype innocens (Burmeister) on blueberry/Ocorrencia e biologia de Tolype innocens (Burmeister) em mirtilo

They found that pepper worked best with pine sawflies and caterpillars like the eastern tent caterpillar. It also worked better when insects were soft-bodied, during the larval stage.

Pepper as a pesticide

THE Eastern Tent Caterpillar is still considered the most likely culprit, and as such has become the number one target for stud managers and scientists.

Bloodstock Briefing: Foetal loss: caterpillar still main focus of suspicion

An analysis of daily foraging patterns of laboratory colonies of the eastern tent caterpillar, Malacossoma americanum (Lepidoptera: Lasiocampidae), recorded photo-electronically.

Busqueda de alimento y marcacion de trillo por larvas de Brassolis sophorae (Lepidoptera: Nymphalidae) en condiciones naturales

The western forest tent caterpillar is only about an inch long; but, if there are enough of them, they can eat the foliage of an entire forest.

Slip sliding away: tent caterpillars can stop a train: little things can put the skids under our prayer life

Climate and outbreaks of the forest tent caterpillar. Ecography 18:353-362.

Synchrony in outbreaks of forest Lepidoptera: a possible example of the Moran effect

Eastern tent caterpillar (Malacosoma americanum) populations offer a unique opportunity to study the ways in which genetic structure and gene flow patterns may change over increasingly greater distances and, perhaps more significantly, over increasingly heterogeneous environmental regimes (McCauley and Eanes 1987; Rank 1992).

Hierarchical genetic structure and gene flow in macrogeographic populations of the eastern tent caterpillar (Malacosoma americanum)

In fact, friendly flies are actually a blessing--they keep forest tent caterpillar populations in check, and thereby save our valuable woodlands from total defoliation.

Friendly flies: what's all the buzz about?