Caterpillars Are Pestering Many Southern Residents
Caterpillars Are Pestering Many Southern Residents
When we hear about annoying insects, we are usually hearing about mosquitoes, or ants, but caterpillars? Depending on which region of the United States you live in, caterpillars can be a nuisance during the early fall season. Oak leaf caterpillars are native to the eastern US and they can be found as far west as North Dakota. These caterpillars are particularly abundant in eastern Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Arkansas. Even if you do live in a region where oak leaf caterpillars are common, you will likely not be bothered by their leaf-eating activities. However, sometimes, and in some regions, these caterpillar populations can become unusually numerous. These caterpillars are known to feed voraciously on tree leaves. Normally losing a few tree leaves to a hungry caterpillar is not a big deal to a person, but this year, in the southern region of Arkansas, these caterpillars are beginning to annoy the residents of several counties due to their abundance.
Cooperative Extension Service agents located throughout southern Arkansas began receiving numerous phone calls early in the week from residents that were expressing confusion, and sometimes, panic, due to the loss of tree leaves within their lawns. Complaining about being robbed of tree leaves may sound strange, but residents were concerned after waking up one morning to find that their trees were without their normal abundance of green leaves.
Garland County agricultural agent Allen Bates has received at least forty calls within a two day period concerning the caterpillars. Residents have been complaining about the abundance of caterpillar dung littering their property. Sometimes these caterpillars can become so concentrated in a particular region that the sound of their droppings hitting the ground can be confused with rainfall. Every year these caterpillars travel across the southern plains while indulging in a feeding frenzy. These caterpillars only feed on tree leaves when trees are going dormant for the year, and they are important to the state of the natural environment.
Have you ever heard of oak leaf caterpillars? Have you ever encountered a caterpillar in the process of feeding on plant material?