Eastern NE, zone 5B. Friend or foe?

He all, we have a bunch of these caterpillars on our echinacea plants. If they are beneficials, more power to them and we’ll plant more for them. But if they are the bad guys, what would eat them?  Thanks!

Look like tent caterpillars to me and I have never heard a good thing about them.

Alex Arn wrote:Look like tent caterpillars to me and I have never heard a good thing about them.

They look like tent caterpillars to me as well.

I've had them several times and while they strip the leaves from whatever branch they are on I can't say that they do too much damage that I've noticed.

Thanks guys. After a little googling I found that most birds, wasps, and hornets will eat them. We have built a habitat for the predators already so we probably just have to wait for the predators to find them. Thanks for your help!

Might be tent caterpillar or a gypsy moth.

Here is a fuzzy caterpillar guide:

https://owlcation.com/stem/furry-caterpillar