I am seeing a huge rebound this year. they are just everywhere. im seeing this in PA, Blair, cambria, centre, andHuntingdon counties. is anyone else seeing that?? andare there any plans on spraying?

PA Gobbler,

Are you seeing Gypsy Moth caterpillars or Tent caterpillars?
(I'm not saying that you can't identify them , I just ran into this with my dad in Schuylkill Co.........my neice had a bunch in a cup and they were Tent caterpillars. He insisted they were gypsy moths

I'll post a couple pictures of their nests / egg casings and the mature caterpillars for comparison:

First is the Gypsy moth egg casings:

The mature Gypsy moth caterpillar:

Here is the Tent caterpillar nests so familiar in PA:

And the mature Forest Tent caterpillarEdit not the same as the Eastern Tent variety)

TONS of tent caterpillars in Bradford County. When you drive over them on the road they make an audible snap noise............I don't know if I have ever seen that many. I hope they don't affect the foliage.........[&:]

Matt- i would guess that you are right and im seeing Tent cats. though i dont think they look like that pic but since i am seeing so many i would say that they arent gypsy's. thanks for the pics and help.

Matt,

That actually isn't a nest (I don't think), just a bunch of the damn things eating (nests are the white, silky, tent-like structures with the very young catipillars). We have lucked out so far in my immediate area (house, woods, etc.). I did hear of some woodlot owners nearby me spraying them by helicopter (at some astronomical price per load). Last year was aweful - I litterally could walk around the house without stepping on one (each step!!!) - they do make a funny popping sound when stepped on and have funny looking inards. I eneded up spraying around the house with stuff that would kill them when they walked through it (as well as spot spraying, and burning, and.......). They said this year would be even worse because of the mild winter, but must be the late cold snap did some damage. We did spray the tree in my front yard with something once we started to see nests. It seemed to work quite well - the tree actually has all/most of its leaves. I have heard the farther north you go in NY the worse they get. I saw whole mountain sides of bare trees last summer in the Adirondacks. The trees can withstand that kind of pressure for only a couple years before they die.

Look behind it.......

Had them bad in WV about three years ago. It was so bad, you'd ride through the woods and think it was winter with little leaf cover. There is some kind of blight that kills them after it rains though. The key is to kill enough that next year's numbers are much lower. If trees get hit a few years in a row, they're done.

Edit: Sorry Doug........I was trying to edit MY post. LOL After 7 yrs you'd think I would know whatI'm doing here.