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Eastern Tent Caterpillars Swarm Region

The Eastern Tent caterpillar population is booming in Southern Indiana, leaving sidewalks slimy and trees covered with the insect's tents.

The yellow-and-white-striped caterpillars are usually found living in cherry and apple trees, where they live communally in silky nests. They emerge annually, but in southern Indiana, the insect is having an exceptionally prolific year.

Scientists say the insect's population thinned after its last boom 15 years ago, but the numbers have slowly creeped up again.

Purdue entomology professor Cliff Sadof says that ebb and flow is due to funguses and viruses that infect the caterpillars.

"There are viruses that come in and cause a local collapse of the population and then the population has to come back up again," he says.

Indiana Department of Natural Resources State Entomologist Philip Marshall says scientists have found a fungus or virus infecting this year's caterpillars, so the population could decrease next year.

And while both Sadof and Marshall agree the caterpillars are annoying, they say for the most part, there's nothing to worry about.

"They're gross and inconvenient, but they're not harmful to anybody," Marshall says. "It's aesthetically unpleasing to look at those tents when start to get wet and dirty."

But the unpleasantness will be short-lived. Within the next couple weeks, the caterpillars will retreat to their cocoons, and will emerge as moths.

In the meantime, if a person really wants to get rid of the caterpillars, Sadof recommends using a stick to remove the tent before submerging it in a bucket of soapy water. Since the insects are nocturnal, it's best to do this during the day, when the majority of the caterpillars are inside.

Even though they may be a nuisance, Sadof notes the caterpillars' attire is, at least, appropriate.

"This is Indiana, and on May 25th we've got the Indianapolis 500, and these guys have got racing stripes," he says, referring to the caterpillars' distinctive long white line down their back. "It's in line with the theme of the month…nothing else looks like it."

Back in the early 2000s, a tent caterpillar epidemic was indirectly linked to a rash of foal deaths. According to Marshall, the black cherry tree leaves naturally contain cyanide.

As the caterpillars munched on the leaves, parts of the plant would fall onto grass, which horses would eat indiscriminately. The cyanide from the leaves was enough to poison young horses.

Marshall says while a similar danger is possible today, farmers have since become more cognizant of the dangers of planting the poisonous cherry trees close to grazing pastures.

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