Any moth larva of the genus Malacosoma (family Lasiocampidae).
Tent caterpillars are often brightly coloured. Congregations of the eastern tent caterpillar ( M. americanum ) of eastern North America spin huge, tent-shaped communal nests in forked tree branches. Eggs the moth deposits on a tree in midsummer hatch in spring. The hatched caterpillars migrate to a tree crotch and construct a silken tent, which they leave each day throughout the summer to feed on the surrounding leaves. The forest tent caterpillar ( M. disstria ) is common in the southern U.S.