[1] The adult moths of this species favor oak, sweetgum, tupelo, aspen, and sugar maple for egg laying in the summer.

The females lay eggs in masses of up to 300, which are stuck to twigs and covered with a gluey cement called spumaline, which prevents them from desiccating and freezing.

High population density outbreaks tend to recur at reasonably regular intervals every decade or so and usually last two to three years, during which time trees and shrubs can be almost completely denuded of leaves.

[2] The adult moth that emerges after pupation is yellow or tan with a thick, short, furry body.

[3] The forest tent caterpillar moth is nocturnal, taking flight soon after nightfall and returning to rest before dawn.

[9] Forest tent caterpillars are ectotherms so they rely on sources of heat from the environment to raise their body temperatures.

[8] This is very important for M. distria caterpillars, which rely on fast growth in spite of low environmental temperatures to benefit from the high food quality and the smaller predation risk in the spring.

However, as caterpillars grow, thermoregulatory needs decrease and the benefit of group living is gradually overridden by other factors such as food competition.

As caterpillars advance in groups, they form thick mats of silk that provide them with secure adhesion.

It has also been reported that females emit a calling pheromone before they emerge from the pupae, causing an increase in male activity around the cocoon before they eclose.

Within one or two seconds after the tip of the female abdomen clears the cocoon, males begin copulation, which lasts an average of 202 minutes.

[12] Not much is known about the factors that lead to the initiation of forest tent caterpillar outbreaks, although some plausible mechanisms are higher temperatures in the spring, phenological synchrony with their host plants, and reduced predation enemies.

[15] At low population densities, moths are found mating high above the ground, in the forest canopy.

[13] In contrast, during high-density outbreaks, mating takes place on lower vegetation, presumably because caterpillars descend to forage in less defoliated areas, where they form their pupae.

[12] This high population density increases the operational sex ratio and significantly intensifies male-male competition.

As a result, copulations begin earlier in the day and last longer in an attempt to minimize sperm competition.

This hanging behavior does not appear at low population densities, presumably because it is more energetically costly and more conspicuous, since it can attract more males that can potentially interfere in the copulation process.

Shorter and longer oviposition durations are associated with smaller and larger egg masses, which are directly related to female size.

[17] Individual risk is lower in larger groups due to collective defense from predators, the dilution effect, and the selfish herd theory.

To compensate for group conspicuousness, caterpillars minimize movement, reducing their chances of being located by invertebrate predators.

[19] Ontogenetic changes in caterpillars reduce the risk of predation and as a consequence, predation-related benefits of group foraging decrease with time.

Multiple outbreaks in Northern Ontario, Canada, in the 1990s resulted in over six consecutive years of aspen defoliation in some areas.

Although the insect's distributional range is quite large, the area over which decadal outbreak cycles are synchronized (i.e. oscillating with the same phase) varies substantially.

There are a large number of natural mortality agents which could be responsible for population cycling, including parasitoids, predators, starvation, disease, and severe weather.