Tent caterpillars on sugar makers’ minds, if not in their trees

Forest tent caterpillars. Creative Commons photo
A decennial pest species called the forest tent caterpillar is midway through an outbreak in Vermont this year, and egg masses have just begun to hatch, according to state officials.
The caterpillar is native to Vermont and every ten years or so an outbreak of the species will defoliate large areas of deciduous trees. The last big outbreak in Vermont began in 2004 and continued for about three years, stripping foliage from more than 300,000 acres