Pest description and damage Large silken tents filled with caterpillars, frass and dead leaves, eventually engulf entire branches of deciduous trees. Young caterpillars are pale greenish or yellow with a dark stripe down the back and a yellow stripe along the sides. Long silky hairs arise from yellow and black tubercles. When mature, the caterpillars are covered with yellow to rusty- to black-colored silky hairs. Adults are bright white with orange and black markings on the underside of the abdomen. Woolly scales cover masses of 200 to 500 greenish eggs.
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