Posted on 06/25/2025 8:05:04 AM PDT by Red Badger
Ahh, summertime: A season for kicking back, relaxing, grilling and barbecuing.
And also a time for these horrific monsters:
Credit: Joe Boggs via WCMH
But what ARE these horrific lumps?! From one local report in Ohio:
Caterpillars that are camouflage experts and known to cause damage to a variety of plants are now hatching in Ohio.
Joe Boggs, an assistant professor with Ohio State University Extension, is warning residents to be on the lookout for bagworms, which are the caterpillars of bagworm moths. The insects create a bag around themselves using silk and pieces of their host plant, which camouflages them from predators. They often resemble small pine cones.
Yes, "small pine cones." Or pieces of tree bark:
Fir0002/Wikimedia Commons
Or jagged chunks of sap and pine needles:
Credit: Joe Boggs via WCMH
Or elegant arrangements of handsome twigs:
Shutterstock
Or, um, whatever this is:
Shutterstock
Regrettably, this bug has quite a large spread:
USA National Phenology Network
Thankfully, it's okay to kill these pests — and you have some options here:
Boggs said an easy way to get rid of bagworms is to pluck them off their hosts and step on them.
Boggs also said insecticides are another option, but some sprays may also kill arthropods that help keep bagworms and other pests at bay. ...
The best long-term solution for keeping the pests away is to plant a variety of flowering plants, which attract insects such as certain wasps that are predators of bagworms, according to Boggs.
So suit up y'all — it's bagworm season!
“Drop them in a coffee can, add a little diesel fuel, and light-off. Snap! Crackle! Pop!”
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This is the way!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
The blast would damage my peonies.
Amazing how Texas, Louisiana and Florida are able to keep them out. What’s their secret?
We have them, just not in large numbers...........
We have them, just not in large numbers...........
Living most of my life in the country/woods, I can conclusively say that i have NEVER seen such a thing. I would have noticed a mini log cabin in a tree.
We had them in North Mississippi when I was a kid in the 50’s and 60’s...............
Are you sure? Remember a bunch of years ago, the emerald ash borer destroyed almost all the ash trees in southern Michigan.
Different kind of pest.
Then sprays for what and who is doing the spraying and how?
Do what your teacher would tell you to do. Go look it up.
Not wasting my time. You made the claim, so prove it. I'm not in the habit of chasing claims made by internet experts who might be full of .....
Give me the proof and I will gladly acknowledge your claim........
Till then......
Your claim wasn’t very successful against the Emerald Ash Borer, was it?
Look it up if you like or wallow in ignorance.
Probably why you flunked out of school.
According to that distribution map they don’t cross the Mass border into NH. Nor do they cross the NYS/Vermont border. Fascinating!
According to the distribution map, they don’t cross into Fla.
What? Webworms? Oh we get them. We live in north Florida and believe me webworms thrive here with the heat and humidity.
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