Tent Caterpilars, Will the trees bounce back?

[Farmall Guy]

This is my first topic posted here on this site, but I figured with the wealth of information here someone should be able to shed some light on an issue I have.

I've got 20+ acers of woods, mostly maples that are around 10" DBH and smaller. There are a few cherries and some smaller stuff but the proprty is covered by maples for the most part.

In the past couple years since I bought the proporty we've been seeing an increased amount of tent caterpillars in this area of NY, they've already done a number on the cherry trees on my land but are starting to get into the maples. My question is will they kill off alot of the trees or do they tend to affect trees that are in poor health worse than others.

I know I need to thin some of the woods to give the best trees a good chance to grow, I'm just qurious about how these caterpilars are going to affect my thinning plans (force my hand in other words)

I know theres nothing I can do about them but I was just wondering what some of the posible outcomes could be.

thanks, Jeremy

 

[Thillmaine]

Repeated defoliation

Some trees may die from repeated defoliation....Most will probably just set a new set of leaves in spots where the majority of the foliage is removeds...again...if it happens too many years in a row then it is quiter possible the tree will die.. I went ot college in NY and guys from Western and Central NY were always talking about the tent problem they had out there..one guy even said that a maple sugar farm had helicopters in there spraying his grove...

 

[stihl sawing]

We have three pecans and one black walnut tree, Last year they completely wiped out all the leaves on all four trees. Like you i was worried about if they would come back this year, They all did and look just fine. We have them every year but they usually don't strip the trees. Last year they did, Your tree will probably come back, But as ThillMaine said they might be harmed if their stripped every year. More of these guys will chime in and let you know more than me.

 

[sawyerDave]

Tent caterpillars

They only hit once, in the spring, some trees can withstand being defoliated 4 times a year, but tent caterpillars only hit once. Fall webworm may hit later in the year, but cherries are among the first trees to lose leaves in the fall, so they are most likely spared this pest. Wild cherries are pretty hard to kill, but orchard cherries may not be so hearty. A quick kill is to take a stick and tear open the web and pour mineral oil over the nest in the evening, when most are at home. Its a good thing that we get cold winters, every now and then, cause they kill a lot of the bugs out there!

 

[Farmall Guy]

Thanks for the info, glad to hear their is some hope. When I can get to them down low I try to kill as many as posible but alot of them are up high in the canopy and there isnt much I can do about them.

Guess I'll just wait and see what happens, to bad they couldnt do in all my poison ivy got alot of that too

 

[woodbooga]

I have 5 small apple trees, all in full blosson and in new leaf. Caught the tenters before they did too much damage.

I also have a few wild cherries on my land that get defoliated. They do seem to bounce back each year.

I recall the gypsy moth catepillar outbreak of the early 1980s. They had a preference for red oak and would defoliate a single tree multile times a year until a virus evolved to kill them back. They were so great in number that you could hear them chewing at night - and their waste (little sand-sized pellets) literally rained down from the forest canopy). There were even a few traffic accidents caused by cars skidding into a patch of them crossing the streets.

This went on for a few years and all but the most weakened trees bounced back. It would be interesting to see/compare the growth rings for those years as compared to less stressful years.

 

[(WLL)]

here is a good start

http://www.innovationalberta.com/article.php?articleid=533

 

[kapow2826]

non toxic controls

You might try B. t. A bacterial caterpillar killer. Available at hardware stores. Insect parasitic nematodes worked in one limited application in California. The microscopic nematodes search out insect hosts and reproduce the parasitic stages. They can penetrate small openings, are EPA approved and available by mail order. See kappa 2826 at the bottom of the page.

 

[motoroilmccall]

Farmallguy, Where in NY are you? I'm just north of Buffalo, and I have the same problems with the little buggers, found out that the nests are fairly flammable, and a little 2 stroke mix on them really wipes them out. Toast them once and they'll be gone most of the year, just be careful not to toast anything else :angry2: .

 

[Farmall Guy]

I'n near oswego NY, Thanks for all the info I figured this would be the place to ask. We've always had them here in limited numbers around here but the past couple years they have really taken off.

 

[kapow2826]

Oil

Oil is phytotoxic. It kills insects as well as trees. One almond grower applied undiluted oil to his orchard and killed all his trees. I did use the recommended 2 percent summer oil during an insect parasitic nematode spray application No problems were observedin the almond ochard.

 

[(WLL)]

if you build it they will come

bring on the birds and let nature run its coarse. I.P.M integrated pest management.

 

[DonnyO]

bring on the birds and let nature run its coarse. I.P.M integrated pest management.

Almost a perfect post WLL.....coarse= of poor quality,(like your grammar) course=an onward movement; progress, (what you were trying to say, and where you're headed under my tutelage)

 

[Oswegatchie3]

Im no expert but this is what I have gathered from what people have told me.
In NY at least, there are two major types of the "tent caterpillars" the Eastern Tent Caterpillar, and the Forest Tent Caterpillar. Eastern Tent Caterpillars feed on anything. Eastern are the ones that spin the tents and webs in the trees. The Forest Tent Caterpillar feeds on oak, ash, maples, white birch, etc. and instead of making a tent, these guys just spin threads and fall from trees onto whatever is around. These guys are are easily avoidable since they aren't born in mass on the tree like the Easterns. I have no experiance with fending them off myself. This is what Ive read from articles.

Large trees can normally withstand two years of defoliation.

They are always around but they go unnoticed until every 10 or 12 years there is an explosion in there population that last 3-6 years.

The difference in the species is simple:
Eastern tents are the ones with the solid white stripe and the blue and orange on their sides.
Forest tents are the ones with the white dots down their backs and are bigger and hairer then the Easterns.