Forest Tent Caterpillar

A Technical Report from The Bartlett Tree Research Laboratories

The forest tent caterpillar, Malacosoma disstria, is a native pest to North America and is found throughout the United States and Canada, from coast to coast. This caterpillar is mainly considered a forest pest but will cause defoliation on deciduous species in the landscape.

Partial control can be achieved using cultural methods. Removal of egg masses in the winter is a good way to reduce damaging populations in the spring. Masses of feeding larvae can be removed by hand or washed off of foliage with a strong stream of water.