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BugGuide Gathering
Smoky Mountains
University of Tennessee Biological Field Station
August 8-10, 2008
Details...
 
Photos from the last gathering (Minnesota 2007)

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Species Malacosoma americanum - Eastern Tent Caterpillar Moth - Hodges#7701

Eastern Tent Caterpillar - Malacosoma americanum Eastern Tent Caterpillars - Malacosoma americanum Scott - Caterpillar # 1 - Malacosoma americanum Our Familiar Friends in First Instar - Malacosoma americanum Eastern Tent Caterpillar - Malacosoma americanum Eastern Tent Moth (caterpillar) - Malacosoma americanum Tent Cat - Malacosoma americanum caterpillar - Malacosoma americanum
Show images of: caterpillars · adults · both
Classification
Kingdom Animalia (Animals)
Phylum Arthropoda (Arthropods)
Class Insecta (Insects)
Order Lepidoptera (Butterflies and Moths)
No Taxon (Moths)
Superfamily Lasiocampoidea
Family Lasiocampidae (Tent Caterpillar and Lappet Moths)
Subfamily Lasiocampinae
Tribe Lasiocampini
Genus Malacosoma
Species americanum (Eastern Tent Caterpillar Moth - Hodges#7701)
Hodges Number
7701
Other Common Names
Eastern Tent Caterpillar (larva)
Synonyms and other taxonomic changes
Malacosoma americana (alternate spelling)
Size
Caterpillar length to 57 mm (2¼ in) (2)
Identification
wings of male are darker and more brownish; wings of female are paler and more yellowish

Larva: distinguished by a solid cream/white line along the dorsum (middle of the back). Sides of the body are marked with blue, black, orange and white. Dark face.
Range
Eastern and central US to the Rockies (2) and Canada from Nova Scotia to Alberta
Life Cycle

Larvae emerge in spring and begin building their tent which they continue to expand as they grow.

Fully grown caterpillars eventually disperse and find a place to pupate.
one generation per year; overwinters as an egg
See Also
adult Forest Tent Caterpillar (M. disstria) forewing has dark AM and PM lines (not pale, as in M. americana)
adult Western Tent Caterpillar (M. californica) is slightly smaller but otherwise similar and probably indistinguishable from M. americana in areas where their ranges overlap (Quebec to Alberta and adjacent states)
compare photos of all 3 species at CBIF

larva of Forest Tent Caterpillar (Malacosoma disstria) has a broken dorsal line forming keyhole or footprint shapes along its back, and generally more blue on its body, including the face.

Works Cited
1.Field Guide to Moths of Eastern North America
By Charles V. Covell, Jr.
2.Peterson First Guide to Caterpillars of North America
By Amy Bartlett Wright
3.Caterpillars of Eastern Forests
By David L. Wagner, Valerie Giles, Richard C. Reardon, Michael L. McManus
4.Caterpillars of Eastern North America
By David L. Wagner