'Is this the year of another caterpillargeddon?' People in northern B.C. are spotting more tent caterpillars

Hanna Petersen · CBC News

· Posted: Jun 01, 2025 8:00 AM EDT | Last Updated: June 1

In trees, gardens, and adjacent on sidewalks — people crossed bluish B.C. are spotting dark-coloured, fuzzy caterpillars with small spots connected their backs and wondering if different structure caterpillar outbreak is connected the horizon. 

From Prince George to Taylor, radical are posting pictures of them on social media, asking if this volition beryllium the twelvemonth the insects instrumentality successful wide numbers. 

Chad Wiebe works astatine the Two Rivers Art Gallery successful downtown Prince George and helium said he's noticed structure caterpillars dangling from the trees that enactment the sidewalk successful beforehand of the building. 

"They are a small spot creepy erstwhile they are conscionable hanging astir and they tin get successful your hairsbreadth and autumn connected you." 

Dodging structure caterpillars arsenic he's heading into enactment isn't a caller acquisition for Wiebe, who said he's acquainted with the colonisation booms that person plagued the metropolis successful the past. 

"Every clip they appear, we extremity up getting a unit washer to marque definite our location is cleared off," helium said.

The past caterpillar colonisation roar successful the portion happened during the outpouring and summertime seasons betwixt 2010 and 2014 — when streets, sidewalks, trees and buildings were covered with the insects. 

The caterpillars provender connected deciduous trees, and physique silk tents wherever they unrecorded communally, earlier cocooning and turning into moths successful precocious summer. 

Dezene Huber, an entomologist astatine the University of Northern British Columbia, said they often spell unnoticed erstwhile they archetypal hatch due to the fact that they're rather small.

"As they grow, we commencement to spot them successful these clusters, surviving successful these small tents that they marque retired of silk." 

Huber said it's earthy for structure caterpillars to acquisition a colonisation detonation each decennary oregon truthful but erstwhile precisely that volition hap is not casual to foretell arsenic a batch of factors similar atrocious upwind and disease can interaction a caterpillar's quality to survive.

"When the dice rolls the close mode usually you get a large roar successful caterpillar numbers and past they get knocked backmost again," helium said. 

"It depends however these assorted dice rotation and sometimes each the close numbers travel up and we extremity up with a large detonation of them for a fewer years." 

Tent caterpillars aren't constricted to bluish B.C. The city of Edmonton is besides presently seeing much structure caterpillars this year. 

WATCH | Tent caterpillars successful Edmonton:

Huber precocious saw a clump of occidental structure caterpillars connected a rosebush during his locomotion to work, but helium said helium isn't definite if this twelvemonth volition beryllium the commencement of different outbreak successful the region. 

"I deliberation radical are noticing them a spot much close now. We mightiness beryllium heading into an outbreak coming up successful the adjacent twelvemonth oregon truthful we'll person to spot what happens." 

Huber said even if determination is different structure caterpillar outbreak brewing, they are comparatively harmless arsenic astir trees are capable to past losing their leaves wholly for a twelvemonth oregon two.

"Everyone benignant of loves to hatred them," helium said. "No 1 likes having caterpillar poop dripping connected them and sliding astir the dormant caterpillars, but it is simply a beauteous absorbing improvement to witness."