WHAT IN THE !!!😱

[Johnathan]

Sooooo I'm watering a little later than normal and I get to my BC. And I see this!!!!



I lean it a little closer... and it starts f****n moving!!!!!

I recorded a video of it spinning and twisting but I can't upload it.

Now.... I've been binge watching Stranger Things.... and obviously I'm a black guy, so you know I'm not gonna stick around in obviously dangerous situations

So I'm here..... Somebody please tell me what the hell this is, how do I get rid of it? Why is it here?!?!?

 

[cheap_walmart_art]

Looks like a bagworm casing. There's a little critter in there. Pick it off and throw into some soapy water to drown it and look for more.

 

[Johnathan]

Crap that's exactly what it looks like!!

It started spinning and scared the out of me lololololol

Never had them before. Are they attracted to something?

 

[cheap_walmart_art]

Crap that's exactly what it looks like!!

It started spinning and scared the out of me lololololol

Never had them before. Are they attracted to something?

I get them on my thujas in the yard. Had a bad infestation once and killed two old bushes. Im not sure if theyre attracted yo anything in particular but ive only ever seen them on evergreens. The females hide out in the sacs laying eggs and the males crawl around and fertilize. When the eggs hatch they are carried by wind to other trees. Best way ive found to take care of them is just throw on some gardening gloves, fill a coffee can with soapy water and search and pick and drown.

 

[Shibui]

I think there are many different species. Like other sorts of caterpillars, different species have their own preference for food plants. Each species also builds a slightly different case to live in. Also like other moths and butterflies they have a larval stage but these guys make those bags to protect themselves from predators so inside that bag is a caterpillar just minding its own business and trying to make a living. When full grown they make a cocoon then finally hatch out as a moth.
There is nothing in particular that attracts them, only the opportunity for a feed of the right ort of plant.
We don't ever see large numbers over here so don't be too worried about your tree but even one casemoth caterpillar will probably eat quite a few leaves while it grows up. Maybe just move it to another tree nearby?

 

[sorce]

so you know I'm not gonna stick around in obviously dangerous situations

Sorce

 

[hemmy]

Maybe just move it to another tree nearby?

Please don’t move it! Just squish that thing before the mindflayer hatches!

I’ve seen articles about these being bad over the last few years in Oklahoma and Kansas, but it may be just be cyclical population booms. There are natural predators, but I’ve seen these kill entire junipers in the landscape. You might check around your neighborhood for infestations and educate your neighbors! They can be managed in the landscape trees in the crawler stage in spring and early summer with some low impact insecticides like Spinosads and Bacillus thuringiensis. Most local extension agencies have good online info on control. There is also some research out on the web into using certain flowers to attract the parasitic wasps that are their natural enemy.

 

[TN_Jim]

I’ve seen these my whole life on conifers, usually on eastern red cedar. @cheap_walmart_art is giving you good advice -I would also check out the trees in your landscape and remove them all.

Unlike...”typical” moths, that is an incubation chamber feeding on the guts of the female moth inside...unless it’s an empty male one

Thuja, hinoki, juniper..never seen it really take down a wild erc...they could potentially be highly invasive if their range is expanding??

 

[Hartinez]

Yeah they are everywhere here in Albuquerque. They’ll be dozens of them in a single tree and in some cases hanging from 10 ft plus long silk string. I see them on sycamores mostly. Never seen a tree die because of one, but the trees they are on never look healthy. As others suggested. Pick it off and look for others all over your yard.

 

[cheap_walmart_art]

Seriously, kill it! When they took out my bushes there were so many that you could literally hear them crawling in there. I burned the bushes on the spot and the ground around them churned with the bodies. Was one of the grosser things ive witnessed and the wifey is still a little traumatized lol.

 

[amcoffeegirl]

I’ve been watching stranger things too.
Would freak me out too.

 

[Johnathan]

Sorce

Exactly! Lololololol

Thank you everyone. I spotted a couple more, and even 1 in a shimpaku. I will begin removing them tomorrow.

@amcoffeegirl when it started moving I was done! Lol

 

[Jzack605]

Pick it off is best management and watch for more. Spray with a spinosad based pesticide to be thorough. They have their preferences, Thujas being most liked, but I’ve also seen them in the most unlikely locations. Signs, windows, etc. They can be quite harmful if allowed to get out of hand.

 

[Lazylightningny]

Just pick it off and stomp on it!

 

[Japonicus]

I get them here, even on the siding on my house. I burn them.

 

[Sekibonsai]

Burn them or throw them in the trash. Squishing them draws more in.

 

[Johnathan]

@Japonicus now that I think about it, I think I saw one on the siding. I sprayed it off with the hose. I didn't even think it was one of them!

@Sekibonsai is that true? I asked a local guy and he said that he just squishes them, and he always gets them coming back lol I'll have to let him know

Anyway, here is the aftermath of mine. I snipped them off with some scissors and just let them fall into the soapy water. This picture was taken later in the evening yesterday.

 

[Japonicus]

@Japonicus now that I think about it, I think I saw one on the siding. I sprayed it off with the hose. I didn't even think it was one of them!

@Sekibonsai is that true? I asked a local guy and he said that he just squishes them, and he always gets them coming back lol I'll have to let him know

Anyway, here is the aftermath of mine. I snipped them off with some scissors and just let them fall into the soapy water. This picture was taken later in the evening yesterday.

View attachment 253741

Teatime
I don't think a typical garden hose at 60 psi would come close to taking one down on jet.
Them suckers hang10 I tell ya. I saw a tree last year somewhere that looked like it came out of another world
covered in those things and silk webbing. Tree looked like it was in quarantine.

 

[Sekibonsai]

@Japonicus now that I think about it, I think I saw one on the siding. I sprayed it off with the hose. I didn't even think it was one of them!

@Sekibonsai is that true? I asked a local guy and he said that he just squishes them, and he always gets them coming back lol I'll have to let him know

Anyway, here is the aftermath of mine. I snipped them off with some scissors and just let them fall into the soapy water. This picture was taken later in the evening yesterday.

View attachment 253741

My sister in law used to work for a Christmas tree farm and did all the pest management- i.e., she actually took classes/had her applicator's license. She said if you crush them then they release a pheremone that attracts more. I know that is the same thing for things like stink bugs. Regardless of the method of dispatch I would make sure all remains are put in the trash or burned.