Oh, left out, that there are two thin YELLOW stripes down the back.
When you squish them, a great deal of yellow gunk squirts out of their
body. Yes, may be tent worms. I can't see a nest. We have old oak
trees by our porch, I'm guessing they are at least 40 feet tall, and
there could be a nest someone up there hiding. Will tent worms, or any
type of caterpiller nest that high up?

Does a tent worm turn into a type of moth? I can't imagine the size of
the moth that would come out of this caterpiller--they are fairly large
(not hornworn large...but large).

Heidi




Heidi wrote:

The past couple of weeks, there have been little dark brown balls
covering our deck. The balls looked like large mouse droppings.
Because of the amount of the balls, I figured it must be some sort of
pollen from a tree--I kid you not when I tell you that our deck is
covered w/ these balls. I sweep the deck clean and the next day they
are back. Well imagine my surprise when I see a caterpillar crawling
across the deck excreting these little balls!!! We have a major
caterpillar poo infestation going on!!

Can anyone help me id the culprits? The caterpillars are similar to
tent worms, but they do not have any blue markings. They are mostly
black with two thin stripes down the back.
Has anyone else had this problem? Any recommendations? I have not
seen any evidence of a nest or origin for all these pooping caterpillars!

Thanks!
Heidi
Raleigh, NC