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Spider mites on my sweet potatoes?

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BajaJohn:
My thriving sweet potatoes have an area of dying leaves with webs over the top of them. Does this look like a spider mite infestation?

ericalynne:
In my experience, spider mites do not create such a major web. It looks more like tent caterpillars from your photo. If so, you should find little caterpillars inside, in the process of growing bigger. A brief google search shows that tent caterpillars do grow on sweet potatoes.
Erica

BajaJohn:
Thank you very much for the suggestion Erica. Initial Google searches had turned up only spider mites but encouraged by your post, I hunted a little more and also found bagworms and webworms in addition to tent caterpillars. The webworms may be another candidate as they tend to form webs over leaves rather than a nest in the nodes of branches produced by tent caterpillars. I didn't find caterpillars or pupae on the leaves so it is still a mystery. I'll have to look closer and see what I can find.

nattyfroootz:
I've seen spidermites to that degree before. Could very well be, look for sawdust looking droppings on surrounding leaves.

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