tent caterpillar

noun

1. any of the larvae of several moths of the genus Malacosoma, which feed on the leaves of orchard and shade trees and live colonially in a tentlike silken web.
2. the North American larva of M. disstria (forest tent caterpillar), which spins a dense net.

noun

1. the larva of various moths of the family Lasiocampidae, esp Malacosoma americana of North America, which build communal webs in trees