Malacosoma americana
In 3 days ~30% in a week ~60%
The eastern tent caterpillar (Malacosoma americanum) is a species of moth in the family Lasiocampidae, the tent caterpillars or lappet moths. It is univoltine, producing one generation per year. It is a tent caterpillar, a social species that forms communal nests in the branches of trees. It is sometimes confused with the spongy moth (whose larvae look similar) and the fall webworm (which also builds tents), and may be erroneously referred to as a bagworm, which is the common name applied to unrelated caterpillars in the family Psychidae. The moths oviposit almost exclusively on trees in the plant family Rosaceae, particularly cherry (Prunus) and apple (Malus). The caterpillars are hairy with areas of blue, white, black and orange. The blue and white colors are structural colors created by the selective filtering of light by microtubules that arise on the ball cuticle.
Tent caterpillars are among the most social of larvae. The adult moth lays her eggs in a single batch in late spring or early summer. An egg mass contains about 200 to 300 eggs. Embryogenesis proceeds rapidly, and within three weeks, fully formed caterpillars can be found within the eggs. The... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Shenandoah National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 2 | Acadia National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 3 | Great Smoky Mountains National Park | 🇺🇸 United States |
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Boston | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 2 | Washington | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 3 | Baltimore | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 4 | Philadelphia | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 5 | New York City | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 6 | Toronto | 🇨🇦 Canada | |
| 7 | Montreal | 🇨🇦 Canada | |
| 8 | Orlando | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 9 | Austin | 🇺🇸 United States |
With luck
About 10% of wildlife watchers report an Eastern Tent Caterpillar Moth sighting in Philadelphia on a given day, based on 200 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data. It is the 23rd most-seen of the 632 insects we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 30%, and over a week to about 60%, if each day is a fresh chance.
April and May
In those months about 30% of wildlife watchers report an Eastern Tent Caterpillar Moth in Philadelphia on a given day, against under 5% in July to March, the lowest months.
Between 2 and 5 pm
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Eastern Tent Caterpillar Moth sightings with a recorded time, and about 8 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
4th of 9
Of the 9 cities where we can rate Eastern Tent Caterpillar Moth sightings, Philadelphia ranks 4th at about 10%. The best odds are in Boston (United States, about 20%), Washington (United States, about 10%) and Baltimore (United States, about 10%).
Same order: Lepidoptera
The closest relatives of the Eastern Tent Caterpillar Moth that you can see in Philadelphia (order Lepidoptera, Butterflies and Moths) are Monarch (about 30%), Black Swallowtail (about 30%) and Small White (about 20%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Eastern Tent Caterpillar Moth is recorded against all the insects logged in Philadelphia (200 verified sightings), calibrated against known sighting rates. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10% because citizen-science data supports honest approximations, not decimals, and months with records from fewer than five people show "—". How it works.
