TENT CATERPILLAR MOTH

any member of the insect genus Malacosoma of the Lasiocampidae family of moths (order Lepidoptera) that also includes the eggars, named for their egg-shaped cocoons, and the lappets, having lateral lobes, or lappets, on each segment of the larva. The tent caterpillars, which spin huge, tent-shaped communal webs in trees, are stoutbodied and usually yellowish brown, with a typical wingspan of 25 to 75 millimetres (1 to 3 inches). Many species have feathery antennae and hairy bodies and legs. The larvae are often brightly coloured and can defoliate forest, fruit, and ornamental trees. The eastern tent caterpillar moth Malacosoma americanum of eastern North America deposits its eggs in a band on a tree in midsummer. The following spring the eggs hatch, and the larvae migrate to a fork in the tree and construct a large silken tent. (Not all species form these communal webs.) The larvae leave the nest each day to feed until early summer when they are full grown. Pupation occurs in cocoons of silk mixed with a yellowish-white powder. The forest tent caterpillar moth M. disstria is common in the southern United States.