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Mill Creek Towne Garden Club
1 week ago
Mill Creek Towne Garden Club

#birds #caterpillar #birdfoodEvery year around this time we extoll the benefits of the Eastern Tent Caterpillar. This species is one of the most important sources of food for migrating birds. Remember, it takes a lot of energy for a small warbler to go from Venezuela all the way to the boreal forests. Caterpillars are the fuel of migration!
Eastern Tent Caterpillars (Malacosoma americana) are one of the more conspicuous species of spring moth larvae. Their silken tents form on Black Cherry trees across Eastern North America. While often maligned, Eastern Tent Caterpillars rarely kill their host trees, although they can cause unsightly defoliation. Here is an excerpt from the entomology department of a major university, "The eastern tent caterpillar, Malacosoma americanum, is a pest native to North America. Populations fluctuate from year to year, with outbreaks occurring every several years. Defoliation of trees, building of unsightly silken nests in trees, and wandering caterpillars crawling over plants, walkways, and roads cause this insect to be a pest in the late spring and early summer.”
This should make you cringe!
Without caterpillars, we have no bird migration. End of story.
Here at the Maryland Biodiversity Project we shout from the roof tops, “Celebrate the tents. Celebrate the caterpillars.”
Photo by Lynn Strauss.
Shared from Maryland Biodiversity Project ... See MoreSee Less

#birds #caterpillar #birdfood
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