[Cdt-l] Aspen tent caterpillars

[ron guay]

Yeah, this happened in VT on the AT in '06.  It was interesting to see it
again in a different part of the country.

Blister
AT - 2006
PCT - 2011
On Jun 11, 2012 6:18 PM, "Ron" <ronyon at comcast.net> wrote:

> It gets better, then worse. After 5-6 weeks these caterpillars spin
> cocoons and turn to pupae, pretty much leaving the scene. However, soon
> thereafter armies of large gray flies arrive and deposit their maggots on
> the cocoons. The maggots penetrate the silk and feed on the larvae. In the
> meantime the flies hang around landing on people and regurgitating on their
> clothing.
>
> This is what I read anyway. Hopefully this will not actually happen when I
> hike through in a couple of weeks.
>
> Ron
>
> On Jun 11, 2012, at 3:49 PM, David Booth <david.booth at internode.on.net>
> wrote:
>
> > Brett
> > In 2010 while hiking in northern New Mexico (20 june) on Mogote
> > Ridge,  I was alarmed to have hundreds of these little monsters fall
> > on me and climb up my pack 20 at a time. It seems they are programmed
> > after hatching to climb to the highest possible point of any object.
> > (like the CDT sign in the photo). In Australia we have nasty
> > caterpillars of the emperor gum moth, that can sting and irritate
> > your skin causing a rash. So when these aspen caterpillars were
> > coming at me I beat a hasty retreat. I couldnt sit down for several
> > miles asthe ground was covered in the monsters. Are they totally
> > harmless(except to Aspens)? Even the birds were sick of eating them I
> > guess. I certainly never tried eating one. Maybe you could
> > genetically modify them to eat the Lodgepole Pine beetles?
> > best regards
> > Aussie Dave
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