People in Sudbury and the rest of Northern Ontario have been online all week complaining about the onslaught of tent caterpillars but this isn’t a new phenomena, the swell in the creepy crawly population.   The caterpillars have a decade-long cycle, ending with a population surge that can last as long as five years.  Can you imagine coming home to this every day?   Apparently they are all over the streets and neighborhoods and you can actually hear them crunch under your feet and tires. I’ve never been so happy to live in London.  I moved to London 3 years ago after living up north for 8 years but I can honestly say I don’t remember this happening while I lived up north.  I don’t think I could have stayed had I seen it! – Hilary

Basically their predators and diseases and  viruses  also peak in a cycle and eventually kill them off wiping out the population  and then it starts over, it builds up slowly over the next 10 years and it’s been happening for centuries.

 

 

Filed under: bugs, gross, Nature