Bagworm Tsunami

[oldballs]

I'm embarrassed to mention this problem, considering other natural disasters going on right now ....especially fires in California.....but I have never in my 50 years at this place seen Bagworms this bad. They are hanging from and sticking to everything by the thousands.

In June I sprayed some of my Cedars, which are not as infected as everything else. Oh well, Mother Nature will have her way.

Cheers,
Mike

 

[VroomVroom]

What’s a bagworm

 

[oldballs]

I'm guessing that you don't have them up your way. Rather than try to tell/explain them to you, Vroom, I's suggest that you just Goggle it...if you don't mind.

Cheers,
Mike

 

[rekees4300]

What’s a bagworm

They growup in a silk tree house then when mature crawl out and damage the tree.

 

[oldballs]

Nah rekees..........that silk worm and the bag worm are two different creatures......If I'm not mistaken.
Cheers,
Mike

 

[jmc]

They used to be thick around here. Nothing this year and probably in recent history. I'd actually forgotten about them. I do remember that nests a few feet above my tractor's exhaust stack really get active.

 

[/pine]

The "bagworms" I'm familiar with are more like cocoons...what is pictured is what we call "tent worms"...!

 

[rgr33]

We call them catapillars here, and come to think of it, I haven’t seen any of them in years.

 

[CH4Ohio]

I'm embarrassed to mention this problem, considering other natural disasters going on right now ....especially fires in California.....but I have never in my 50 years at this place seen Bagworms this bad. They are hanging from and sticking to everything by the thousands.

In June I sprayed some of my Cedars, which are not as infected as everything else. Oh well, Mother Nature will have her way.

Cheers,
Mike

I'd spray the hell out of them. Mother Nature doesn't like her trees being destroyed any more than you do.

 

[dadiehl]

It’s wet enough here that we burn them out if I can reach them with a long stick and a rag burning on the end.

 

[jaxs]

Bagworm is often applied to different creatures in different areas but both are equally destructive. We have both in Texas,some years more than others but always have some of each. The one pictured(tent caterpillar) is most previlant on Walnut,Persimmon and Pecan. It's the only serious pest common to persimmon but they really do a number on them. The other one that look's like a tiny hornet's nest(Bagworm) is most previlant on Cedar and are Cedar's only serious pest. I'd love to have a tow strap made of either nest material. One with a 20k lb rating would only need to be 1/8" dia and stored most anywhere.
There's a third creature often referred to as a Bagworm but we aren't alowed to discuss politics so I'll abstain.

 

[jaxs]

I'd spray the hell out of them. Mother Nature doesn't like her trees being destroyed any more than you do.

Easier said than done. Conventional sprayer doesn't have suffecient pressure to penitrate the web.

 

[/pine]

Generally tent worms /caterpillars are not invasive or harmful to trees except possibly in extreme infestations...
...Many mistake the invasive and damaging "Gypsy Moth" caterpillars nests with tent worms, web worms etc., etc...

 

[jaxs]

They used to be thick around here. Nothing this year and probably in recent history. I'd actually forgotten about them. I do remember that nests a few feet above my tractor's exhaust stack really get active.

It’s wet enough here that we burn them out if I can reach them with a long stick and a rag burning on the end.

Saaaay,you boys should get togeather when time come's to control them.

 

[oldballs]

It's my understanding that one needs to spray the "worm" before it creates a mature bag. Otherwise the insecticide will have little effect as the worm is rather secure in the bag. My spray rig is a 55 gallon tank, 4-roller pump on a 3.0 HP gas engine. It will nearly reach to the top (approx 35 feet) of my mature cedars along the boundary as a wind break and privacy screen.

Cheers,
Mike

 

[Diggin It]

Conventional sprayer doesn't have suffecient pressure to penitrate the web.

It's my understanding that one needs to spray the "worm" before it creates a mature bag. Otherwise the insecticide will have little effect as the worm is rather secure in the bag.

Y'alls must be armored more than mine. Wigglin' bags get hit until they drip spray. Next day, no more wigglin'.

Somebody said they look like cocoons, but I think they look more like mini-pine cones.

 

[rekees4300]

Nah rekees..........that silk worm and the bag worm are two different creatures......If I'm not mistaken.
Cheers,
Mike

You are correct, they are two different creatures. After further research, the picture I posted is actually called a Tent Caterpillar.
The return of tent caterpillars: What’s it means for your yard? - Purdue Landscape Report

This is a Bagworm.
Bagworms

 

[jmc]

My error too. They were worms.

 

[CH4Ohio]

Y'alls must be armored more than mine. Wigglin' bags get hit until they drip spray. Next day, no more wigglin'.

Somebody said they look like cocoons, but I think they look more like mini-pine cones.

Ditto to the above . . . I've always found bagworms easy to kill. My only problem is NOT being observant enough to notice they're stripping the needles off an evergreen tree before a lot of damage is done. But it seems like SEVIN or anything that I have handy usually stops their assult in one spraying -- when I finally take action.

As far as the tent caterpillars that form those awful stringy nets in deciduous trees, I've had similar experience with them being pretty easy to kill with spray. Again, I blame myself for letting them cause too much damage before I finally notice and take action. Pests that are this big and easy to spot are easier, in my opinion, to deal with than tiny aphids or borers or similar that are hard to see. At least you can see them from 10 feet away and soak them really good with a decent sprayer.

Just saying, I wouldn't sit back and surrender.

And whether my spraying solves the problem or not, I sure feel better after laying it on these nasty little critters.

 

[Larry Caldwell]

Generally tent worms /caterpillars are not invasive or harmful to trees except possibly in extreme infestations...
...Many mistake the invasive and damaging "Gypsy Moth" caterpillars nests with tent worms, web worms etc., etc...

I remember tent caterpillars being a real problem in apple trees 60 years ago, but haven't seen any in years. I don't know why they vanished.

Farmers in the West, from Montana to Nevada, are having a really bad year for grasshoppers. US Farm Report yesterday had a whole segment on barley fields being eaten to the ground by grasshoppers. Pestilence can still destroy farm production. Cow/calf and stocker operations depend on pasture, and we're looking at a lot of starving cows this winter.

USFR 08/07/21 - Farm Journal Report - FARM JOURNAL REPORT - Farm Journal TV

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