Patch-restricted foragers obtain all of the food required during the social phase of their larval development from the leaves found in a single contiguous patch or from several such closely-spaced patches.  The foraging arena is typically well defined by a protective silk envelope or by leaves bound together.  On large trees, patches usually consist of the leaves found on a part of a branch, an entire branch or several closely situated branches.  But on small trees and herbaceous plants the entire host may eventually be enveloped.

Nomadic foragers establish only temporary resting sites and make frequent moves from one patch to another.

Central-place foragers construct a permanent or semi-permanent shelter from which they launch intermittent forays to distant sites in search of food.  Between bouts of feeding the caterpillars rest at the shelter.
 
 
 
 

Recruitment communication - The most sophisticated form of cooperative foraging exhibited by caterpillars is recruitment communication.  Caterpillars recruit siblings to their trails and to their food-finds by marking pathways with pheromones much in the manner of ants and termites.  The most sophisticated examples of recruitment communication have been described from the tent caterpillars (Malacosoma).  Eastern tent caterpillars (M. americanum), for example, utilize a trail-based system of elective recruitment communication that enables the colonies to exploit the most profitable feeding sites.