Fall turns up all kinds of pests and diseases in the garden. You may be noticing what looks like stretched pantyhose in your trees now. Look closely and you will see that these are webs with small caterpillars inside. Each caterpillar is marked with parallel rows of black spots on the back. The fall webworm (Hyphantria cunea) is very noticeable now but at this stage, the caterpillars stay in the web and feed inside on the leaves of the tree. The web is unsightly but their feeding will not kill the tree. However, this would be a good time to cut the branches and bag the webs, caterpillars and all. Close up the bags tightly and dispose the bags in the trash.
Later, after the last molt, they leave the web and crawl all over the tree. They spin cocoons, pupate, and emerge as white moths. If you are not able to bag the web don’t despair, there are many natural enemies of the fall webworm. Another tactic is to spray the first generation in the spring with horticultural oil, Bt (Bacillus thuringiensis), or insecticidal soap before they create the web. Don’t try to burn them out though, it is too dangerous to the tree. For more information on plant pests and diseases, check out the Plant Pests and Diseases tab on pegplant.com.
