Tent caterpillar moths have a 1-inch wingspread and are brown and yellowish with two diagonal markings on the forewings. Adults don’t eat and live only a short while to mate and lay eggs in the fall. The eggs spend the winter as a hard mass of eggs that encircle a twig. Larvae hatch in early spring just as the plants leaf out (mid-February to mid-March). Caterpillars develop through several stages before leaving the host plant to pupate in a cocoon. There is only one generation per year of tent caterpillars. Larvae form a dense silken web usually in the crotch of small limbs which is used as a refuge at night and during rainy spells. The tent is expanded as the caterpillars grow. Caterpillars have chewing mouthparts used to defoliate host plants such as cherry, plum, peach, apple, hawthorn and related plants. Caterpillars may migrate and wander before they form a cocoon which may bring them into contact with homeowners. Tent caterpillars are sometimes confused with fall webworm which are quite different in appearance and biology.