Bag Worms – are they really in a bag?

The answer is yes! When you see bagworms, they are usually in their caterpillar stage hanging from a tree or shrub in a little bag they’ve spun together out of plant detritus – giving them the name “bagworms”. The caterpillars will only leave the bag to devour the plants leaves leaving the plant barren. Bagworms can be very damaging to trees and shrubs and can severely defoliate a small tree or shrub – they can cause severe damage to an evergreen tree . The most common plants that bagworms feed on are arborvitae, eastern red cedars, hemlocks and junipers.

If you catch them early and the bag worms are reachable, you can remove by hand. Otherwise the best way to control these pests is to spray the foliage with a approved insecticide after eggs have hatched. If your into bugs take time to watch these guys work. It’s pretty neat to see how they make their own home and come out to eat your favorite plant. It can take a couple of treatments to achieve 100% control. If you have bags, we have a solution! Give us a call if we can be of service!

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