![]() ![]() Photo by Karla Salp, Washington State Department of Agriculture, Įach spongy moth larva will feed on tree foliage for six to eight weeks. Spongy moth caterpillar dangling on silk thread. Studies have shown, however, that the young larvae can be carried in the wind as far as a half-mile from the egg mass where they hatched. Most larvae end up feeding on trees less than 100 to 150 yards from where they hatched. If not, the larvae will climb up and go through their dispersal behavior again. ![]() If the larvae land on a suitable host, they begin feeding. These tiny larvae, which are less than 0.25 inches in length, have long hairs on their bodies that make them buoyant and help them disperse in the wind. Larvae dangle in the air and wait to be blown by the wind, a process called ballooning. Photo by Milan Zubrik, Forest Research Institute - Slovakia, .Īfter hatching, the larvae (caterpillars) leave the egg mass and climb up and out to the end of a branch or shoot, then drop down on a silk strand. ![]() Egg mass with hatching first instar larvae. Photo by Pest and Diseases Image Library,. View the MSU Enviroweather Spongy Moth Egg Hatch Prediction Model Close-up of spongy moth eggs and hatching. Eggs hatch in spring, typically between early and mid-May in much of Lower Michigan, and in late May or mid-June further north. Spongy moth ( Lymantria dispar, formerly gypsy moth) completes one generation each year. ![]()
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