Jane and David,

Tent caterpillars are highly cyclic. The will be super abundant for a couple
of years then become very rare for several years. As a result they do not
seem to have any long term impact on the shrubs they feed on. In Idaho I
have seem them almost completely strip bitterbrush of its leaves only to
have the shrub bounce back. I have only seen them on deciduous shrubs which
are quite cable of producing new leaves the following spring. Before you say
"yech" I would also remind you that they are important even critical food
sources for many birds. In a good tent caterpillar year I have seen
bluebirds absolutely gorging themselves on the caterpillars. I have seen
many other songbirds feed on them as well, but bluebirds seem particularly
fond of the squiggly little critters. So remember that many probably the
majority will be consumed by the birds we all enjoy observing. One last
tidbit: the caterpillars are so well known that the adults are usually just
called a tent caterpillar moth.

Mike Munts
Colville

-----Original Message-----
From: McComb Gardens
Sent: Tuesday, June 26, 2012 4:20 PM
To: dbw2 at u.washington.edu ; tweeters at u.washington.edu
Subject: [Tweeters] Tent Caterpillars

Tent Caterpillars are rampant in the Dungeness Valley.

Yech,
Jane

Neil W. Burkhardt & Jane Stewart
McComb Gardens
751 McComb Road
Sequim, WA 98382-7882

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----- Original Message -----
From: <dbw2 at u.washington.edu>
To: <tweeters at u.washington.edu>
Sent: Tuesday, June 26, 2012 12:05 PM
Subject: [Tweeters] non-bird question


> This weekend I was hiking in the Cougar Mountain area and there were more
> tent caterpillars than I have seen. They were doing some pretty serious
> denuding of the vegetation. Is this unusual in the Cougar Mountain area?
> Has anyone else noticed an abundance of these caterpillars in other areas
> this year?
>
> Any thoughts would be great.
>
> Sincerely,
> David Williams
> Seatle
>
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> Tweeters mailing list
> Tweeters at u.washington.edu
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