WEBIOCOSM ZOO
Last Updated August 26, 2006
Malacosoma americanum
Eastern Tent Caterpillar
These are Eastern Tent Caterpillars,
Malacosoma americanum (Click the pic to enlarge). I recently
photographed these at a nearby park on a nice sunny day. These silk
tents were abundant at the park which is why they came to my attention.
Before today's reading I didn't really know too much about the natural
history of these caterpillars, but here are a couple of good links, from
Wikipedia, and the
UK Entomology Department. The key identifying features of these
larvae include a generally black body with a white stripe down the back.
The sides of the insect will have blue spots located between two
yellowish lines. I was curious about the thrashing of the anterior
portion of the body, and made a
brief video (10 sec,
3.3mb, mpg). This is described in the Wikipedia article: "Tent
caterpillars, like many other species of social caterpillars, vigorously
thrash the anterior part of their bodies when they detect predators and
parasitoids. Such bouts of thrashing, which may be initiated by a single
caterpillar, radiate rapidly though the colony and may result in group
displays involving dozens of caterpillars. Such displays create a moving
target for tachinid flies, wasps and other small parasitoids that lay
their eggs on or in the body of the caterpillar. They also clearly deter
stink bugs and other timid predators."
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References
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