Last week I informed Gatineau Park lovers that the sound of rain they might be hearing in the woods was actually caterpillar droppings. This week I’ve heard from a number of people about the caterpillars including Kathy who told me there were so many on the parkway she could hear them squishing under her tires. So people are wondering, will this kill the trees? Is the NCC going to do anything?
I contacted the NCC and was given a copy (below) of the info that the people at the visitor centre are using to explain the situation to visitors. I also talked to Louis-René Sénéchal who explained some of the aspects of this phenomenon as you can hear in the video.
A couple of interesting notes: The scientific name of the Forest Tent Caterpillar is Malacosoma disstria. This name actually refers to the moth phase as opposed to the caterpillar. malacosoma means “soft body.” Here’s that moth:
Even more fun is the scientific name of the flies that Louis-René Sénéchal mentioned. These are called Sarcophaga aldrichi and that word Sarcophaga is from ancient Greek and related to our word sarcophagus which is what you might call the huge old stone coffins in which the Egyptian pharaohs were entombed. The Greeks chose a very special stone for the similar coffins they produced because they thought that that particular stone had the ability to eat the flesh of the dead. The words Sarcophaga and sarcophagus literally mean “flesh eating.”
For the sake of completeness here is what went into today’s video:
Kathy wrote:
Yesterday, we drove to the look off at the top of the Gatineau Park parkway with the intention of having a picnic at Étienne Brulé.
At first I though the trees looked strange. Then we noticed that we could hear the tires on the caterpillars on the road. There are caterpillars every where. They are eating the trees. It is very extensive. You cannot walk without stepping on them. We certainly didn’t eat there.
We continued down to Dunlop Field to have our picnic. We walked up the waterfall trail. There are a lot of caterpillars there but not as many. They are floating down the stream and are more prevalent on the small bridges ….. but it is abnormal.
Will there be any action taken? Will this kill the trees? Do you have any idea how long they will continue?
Louis-René Sénéchal sent me this briefing note.
I wrote back to Kathy:
Will action be taken?
Yes, I’ll do my weekly video on these little creepy things.
But I did talk to someone at Gatineau Park who tells me this is a 10 year cycle and is now at its peak. The trees can have their growth stunted in these years but it is unlikely to kill them. If it goes on too long (it often lasts 3 years, this is the 2nd) they can be weakened and more prone to other insect attack and infection.
But the good news is that people have also been complaining about a certain kind of fly that seems more abundant in the Park and it turns out that this kind of fly is parasitic and likes to be a parasite to tent caterpillars.
So, as gross as they are, my Gatineau Park contact finds them fascinating (or claims to) and hopes they can be some kind of tourist attraction while they last.
Isn’t nature wonderful? 
Photo credits
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:East_tent_caterpillar_tent.jpg
http://imfc.cfl.scf.rncan.gc.ca/ins-images-eng.asp?geID=9374
http://twitpic.com/1qqwxe
