Winter No Threat to Eastern Tent Caterpillar Eggs

The Eastern tent caterpillar has been implicated as the cause of mare reproductive loss syndrome (MRLS).
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Blasts of polar air across Kentucky made this winter one to remember for many, but experts say the Eastern tent caterpillars probably didn’t take notice.

This insect spends the winter as tiny, fully developed caterpillars in distinctive egg masses that encircle twigs of wild cherry and related tree species. The Eastern tent caterpillar is one of the first insects to become active in the spring and is well adapted to survive Kentucky’s often erratic winter and early spring weather.

“Hardy may be too mild a term for them,” said Lee Townsend, PhD, University of Kentucky (UK) College of Agriculture, Food, and Environment extension entomologist. “Laboratory studies have shown that caterpillars in the egg can withstand temperatures down to -31°F. It has been a cold winter, but temperatures have not been low enough to expect a significant reduction in egg hatch this spring.”

Townsend said dissections of some eggs collected in early March show a nearly 80% survival, which is typical of most years. That is also the same rate identified by UK entomology researchers during the 1999-2001 mare reproductive loss syndrome (MRLS), which resulted in staggering foal losses. MRLS can cause late-term foal losses, early- and late-term fetal losses, and weak foals

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