THE VALUE OF HAND CONTROL FOR THE TENT CATERPILLARS, MALACOSOMA AMERICANA FABR. AND MALACOSOMA DISSTRIA HBN. (LASIOCAMPIDAE, LEPIDOPTERA)

1940 ◽  
Vol 72 (12) ◽  
pp. 245-250 ◽  
Author(s):  
Harvey L. Sweetman
Keyword(s):  
Malacosoma Disstria ◽  
Forest Trees ◽  
Wild Cherry ◽  
Eastern Tent Caterpillar ◽  
Hand Control ◽  
Tent Caterpillars ◽  
Trees And Shrubs ◽  
Tent Caterpillar

The eastern and forest tent caterpillars are native insects and have been recognized as pests of forest trees and shrubs since colonization of thi country by the early settlers (Swaine, 1913; Baird, 1917; Baerg, 1935; Wadley, 1938). The eastern tent caterpillar becomes conspicuous in the spring about the time the leaves of wild cherry appear and thereafter for about a month.

The Light Reactions of Larvae of the Tent Caterpillars, Malacosoma disstria Hbn., M. americanum (Fab.), and M. pluviale (Dyar). (Lepidoptera: Lasiocampidae)

1953 ◽  
Vol 85 (8) ◽  
pp. 297-310 ◽  
Author(s):  
C. R. Sullivan ◽  
W. G. Wellington
Keyword(s):  
Physical Environment ◽  
Malacosoma Disstria ◽  
General Interest ◽  
Deciduous Trees ◽  
Physical Factors ◽  
Forest Tent Caterpillar ◽  
Field Observations ◽  
Larval Behaviour ◽  
Tent Caterpillars ◽  
Tent Caterpillar

The forest tent caterpillar, Malacosoma disstria Hbn., and the eastern and western tent caterpillars, M. americanum (Fab.) and M. pluviale (Dyar), are common pests of several species of deciduous trees in Canada. All are colonial during the larval stage, but M. disstria differs from the others in one respect: it does not construct a communal tent. This difference in habit merits special consideration in any comparative study of larval behaviour, particularly in one concerned with the effects of physical factors upon the insects, since a tent modifies the effects of the physical environment considerably. Recently, a series of such studies was carried out, and one part of the work consisted of laboratory and field observations on the light reactions of larvae. The results obtained have raised a number of new questions which unfortunately cannot be answered now, hecause two of the species have been difficult to obtain in quantity since 1950. Nevertheless, the findings are presented here without additional delay, since they are of general interest, and other workers may wish to use them.

Identification and behavioral assays of the trail pheromone of the forest tent caterpillar, Malacosoma disstria Hübner (Lepidoptera: Lasiocampidae)

1993 ◽  
Vol 71 (8) ◽  
pp. 1511-1515 ◽  
Author(s):  
T. D. Fitzgerald ◽  
F. X. Webster
Keyword(s):  
Trail Pheromone ◽  
Malacosoma Disstria ◽  
Forest Tent Caterpillar ◽  
Laboratory Studies ◽  
Malacosoma Americanum ◽  
Eastern Tent Caterpillar ◽  
Highly Sensitive ◽  
True Threshold ◽  
Behavioral Assays ◽  
Tent Caterpillar

Behavioral assays show that the steroid 5β-cholestan-3-one, isolated from the abdomen of the larva of the forest tent caterpillar (Malacosoma disstria), constitutes the chemical basis of trail following in this insect. Caterpillars follow artificial trails prepared from solvent dilutions of the compound at rates as low as 10−11 g∙mm−11 of trail, though the true threshold sensitivity is likely to be one or two orders of magnitude lower than this. Fourth-instar caterpillars store an average of 58 ng of the pheromone. Field and laboratory studies indicate that the compound is fully competitive with their authentic trails. The caterpillars are highly sensitive to differences in the concentration of the pheromone, preferring stronger trails to weaker trails. The caterpillars also respond to 5β-cholestane-3,24-dione, a chemical not found in M. disstria but known to be a component of the trail pheromone of the eastern tent caterpillar, Malacosoma americanum.

Does Early-Season Defoliation of Crabapple (Malus sp.) by Eastern Tent Caterpillar (Lepidoptera: Lasiocampidae) Induce Resistance to Japanese Beetles (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae)?

2003 ◽  
Vol 38 (3) ◽  
pp. 457-467 ◽  
Author(s):  
Betty Kreuger ◽  
Daniel A. Potter
Keyword(s):  
Induced Systemic Resistance ◽  
Early Spring ◽  
Systemic Resistance ◽  
Popillia Japonica ◽  
Early Season ◽  
Eastern Tent Caterpillar ◽  
Induce Resistance ◽  
Tent Caterpillars ◽  
And Control ◽  
Tent Caterpillar

We tested the hypothesis that early-season defoliation of flowering crabapple, Malus sp., by eastern tent caterpillars, Malacosoma americanum F., induces localized or systemic resistance to Japanese beetles, Popillia japonica Newman, feeding on the same trees in late June. ‘Candymint Sargent’ crabapple trees were inoculated with M. americanum egg masses, resulting in extensive defoliation during March and April. Second flush leaves of defoliated trees were smaller and thinner than those of control trees. In laboratory feeding assays with non-damaged foliage, beetles generally preferred fully expanded leaves over partially expanded ones, regardless of whether or not the source tree had been defoliated. Detached first flush leaves with caterpillar damage were fed upon less than comparable non-damaged leaves, suggesting that early-season wounding causes some within-leaf reduction in palatability to P. japonica. Other assays with detached first- and second-flush leaves, however, indicated absence of induced, systemic resistance. Previously-defoliated and control trees sustained comparable damage from natural beetle populations in the field. Our results suggest that defoliation of Malus sp. by tent caterpillars in early spring is unlikely to reduce feeding damage by Japanese beetles later in the same growing season.

A THIRD TENT CATERPILLAR IN EASTERN CANADA (LEPIDOPTERA, LASIOCAMPIDAE)

1943 ◽  
Vol 75 (11) ◽  
pp. 203-205
Author(s):  
C. E. Atwood
Keyword(s):  
Eastern Canada ◽  
The Family ◽  
Tent Caterpillars ◽  
Trees And Shrubs ◽  
Tent Caterpillar

Everyone who travels the forests or roads of Ontario and the provinces east of it must be familiar with the tent caterpillars of the genus Malacosoma. The best known of these is the orchard, eastern, or American tent caterpillar, Malacosoma americana Fab., which makes its large grey “tents” on chokecherry, apple, hawthorn, wild plum and other trees and shrubs, chiefly of the family Rosacea.

(E)-5, (Z)-7-DODECADIENAL, A SEX PHEROMONE COMPONENT OF THE WESTERN TENT CATERPILLAR, MALACOSOMA CALIFORNICUM (LEPIDOPTERA: LASIOCAMPIDAE)

1980 ◽  
Vol 112 (6) ◽  
pp. 629-631 ◽  
Author(s):  
E. W. Underhill ◽  
M. D. Chisholm ◽  
Warren Steck
Keyword(s):  
Sex Pheromone ◽  
North America ◽  
Host Plants ◽  
Pheromone Component ◽  
Western North America ◽  
Female Sex Pheromone ◽  
Malacosoma Californicum ◽  
Tent Caterpillars ◽  
Trees And Shrubs ◽  
Tent Caterpillar

Tent caterpillars of the genus Malacosoma frequently appear in outbreak numbers causing widespread defoliation of trees and shrubs in North America. The western tent caterpillar, M. californicum (Packard), with six subspecies, occurs over most of temperate western North America and although there is a large number of host plants on which it will oviposit and feed (Stehr and Cook 1968), most have little commercial value. We report here the identification of a component of the female sex pheromone of M. californicum.

Ants Attacking Larvae of the Forest Tent Caterpillar, Malacosoma disstria Hbn. (Lepidoptera: Lasiocampidae)

1950 ◽  
Vol 82 (9) ◽  
pp. 194-195 ◽  
Author(s):  
G. W. Green ◽  
C. R. Sullivan
Keyword(s):  
Populus Tremuloides ◽  
Field Studies ◽  
The Other ◽  
Malacosoma Disstria ◽  
Forest Tent Caterpillar ◽  
Ant Nests ◽  
Formica Fusca ◽  
Tent Caterpillars ◽  
Tent Caterpillar

During field studies of the behaviour of larvae in colonies of Malacosoma disstria Hbn., it was observed that two species of ants, Camponotus herculeanus ligniperdus (Latr.) and Formica fusca L., were common on the twigs of the small trees, Populus tremuloides Michx., on which the caterpillars were established. Ant nests were common near the bases of trees, and the worker ants climbed the trunks and moved along the branches either to forage or to tend aphid colonies. When the tent caterpillars were small, they were frequently attacked by the ants. There were two distinct types of attack: one the result of foraging by worker ants and the other the result of defence of aphid colonies by the ants.

FURTHER DATA ON THE VALUE OF HAND CONTROL OF THE TENT CATERPILLAR, MALACOSOMA AMERICANA FABR. (LEPIDOPTERA, LASIOCAMPIDAE)

1945 ◽  
Vol 77 (11) ◽  
pp. 202-203
Author(s):  
Harvey L. Sweetman
Keyword(s):  
Plant Growth ◽  
Surrounding Area ◽  
Annual Increment ◽  
Eastern Tent Caterpillar ◽  
Mechanical Methods ◽  
Hand Control ◽  
Tent Caterpillar

The use of mechanical methods in control of the eastern tent caterpillar was emphasized in an earlier paper (Sweetman, 1940). That report which covered the five-year period 1936-1940 is now brought up through the season of 1945. The site has changed little since 1940 except for the annual increment of plant growth. The wild cherries are more numerous, and the older trees are much taller. The variation in abundance of tents each year follows that of the surrounding area showing that migration into the grounds occurs continually.

Prevalence and biology of Furia gastropachae (Zygomycetes: Entomophthorales) in populations of forest tent caterpillar (Lepidoptera: Lasiocampidae)

2003 ◽  
Vol 135 (3) ◽  
pp. 359-378 ◽  
Author(s):  
Melanie J. Filotas ◽  
Ann E. Hajek ◽  
Richard A. Humber
Keyword(s):  
New York ◽  
United States Of America ◽  
Pieris Rapae ◽  
Viral Infections ◽  
Danaus Plexippus ◽  
Malacosoma Disstria ◽  
Forest Tent Caterpillar ◽  
Resting Spore ◽  
Tent Caterpillar ◽  
Marked Tendency

AbstractFuria gastropachaecomb. nov. (= Furia crustosa MacLeod et Tyrrell) has long been associated with declines in populations of the forest tent caterpillar, Malacosoma disstria Hübner; however, its prevalence and impact on host populations have never been documented. We clarify the nomenclature for this species, which has previously been called F. crustosa, and describe the morphology of F. gastropachae isolates from Maryland and New York. Epizootics of F. gastropachae were studied in M. disstria populations in New York and Maryland, United States of America. Prevalence (mean ± SE) of F. gastropachae in late fifth instar larvae in New York was 25.6 ± 7.8% compared with 22.2 ± 11.3% infection by virus and 23.3 ± 8.4% parasitism. In Maryland, F. gastropachae was not found in early instars and its incidence in fourth and fifth instars was 14.5 ± 7.3 and 21.6 ± 17.6%, respectively. Dipteran parasitoids were also important natural enemies with 38.3 ± 3.0 and 17.9 ± 1.4% parasitism in fourth and fifth instars, respectively. Virus was found in fewer than 5% of larvae collected. Furia gastropachae showed a marked tendency toward resting spore production in infected larvae, with 100% of larvae collected in New York and >80% of larvae collected in Maryland producing resting spores, either alone or in combination with conidia. The appearance of cadavers of larvae dying from fungal and viral infections was similar. Of 13 species of Lepidoptera exposed to F. gastropachae conidia in host-range bioassays, only 3.3% of Danaus plexippus (L.) (Lepidoptera: Danaidae), 5.6% of Pieris rapae (L.) (Lepidoptera: Pieridae), and 3.7% of Manduca sexta (L.) (Lepidoptera: Sphingidae) were successfully infected by this fungus.

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