Bag Worm (Thyridopteryx ephemeraeformis)

Order: Lepidoptera (le-pid-OP-ter-a) (Info) Family: Psychidae Genus: Thyridopteryx Species: ephemeraeformis Profile: No positives 2 neutrals 8 negatives Regional... This bug has been reportedly found in the following regions: , North Little Rock, Arkansas Bear, Delaware Boca Raton, Florida Kissimmee, Florida Lutz, Florida Seffner, Florida Wauchula, Florida Macy, Indiana Lansing, Kansas Louisville, Kentucky Melbourne, Kentucky Adamstown, Maryland Frederick, Maryland Minneapolis, Minnesota Branson, Missouri Chesterfield, Missouri O Fallon, Missouri Plattsburg, Missouri Medford, New Jersey Moorestown, New Jersey Pennsville, New Jersey Portales, New Mexico Dayton, Ohio Hulbert, Oklahoma Barto, Pennsylvania Simpsonville, South Carolina Summerville, South Carolina Missouri City, Texas (2 reports) San Antonio, Texas Ashburn, Virginia Chesapeake, Virginia Roanoke, Virginia Member Notes: Rating Author Comment Neutral aprilwillis On Jul 31, 2006, aprilwillis from Missouri City, TX (Zone 9a) wrote: The bags contain the soft bodied worm (female), when small the are susceptible to detergent and water sprayed. Negative city_of_refuge On Jul 31, 2006, city_of_refuge from Chesapeake, VA wrote: Amazing worm! On my job--I work outside-I have to maintain the property on various sites within the City. Started noticing the bushes being eaten up by something. I asked about the thing and found out that it was a bagworm. I picked and disposed of all of them and stopped the death of the bushes. They are really devastating to the plant-life that they attach to! Negative Dea On Aug 5, 2006, Dea from Frederick, MD (Zone 6a) wrote: Destructive worms that once escape the pod will quickly destroy cypress trees in the mid-atlantic area. Opening the tents when found early will provide food for swallows and other birds. Negative garden6 On Aug 5, 2006, garden6 from Lansing, KS (Zone 5b) wrote: Thought these pests were little growths ( looked like little pine cones)on my cypress. Several of my cypress were heavily infested and dying in large areas. When you pick these pests off in the summer, be sure to stomp and squash them or they will wiggle out of they bags and attack a nearby tree. My neighbor says that hot soapy water in a bucket is just as effective. Next spring, in early June ,I will spray my trees to kill the emerging larvae. Negative TBGDN On Aug 13, 2006, TBGDN from Macy, IN (Zone 5b) wrote: These insects are very, very destructive particularly on conifers here: However, they don't mind attacking any shrub or tree in the yard. Their 'bags' are often decorated with parts of foliage, and seem to be a natural part of the shrub or tree. I have a heavy infestation on a Colorado Blue Spruce on the front lawn, and have treated it twice during the past month with Sevin (Carbaryl). I have found them on crab apple trees as well. On checking today I found three or four still alive, and promptly re-sprayed. Should you want to check for what's inside, simply peel back the opening of the 'bag' where it attaches to the tree branch, and the worm can plainly be seen. Negative MzVic On Aug 19, 2006, MzVic from Pennsville, NJ wrote: Recently discovered what appeared to be small pinecones on my fir tree. Looked a liitle closer, realized they were moving. Did a search. Seemed the best defense was to remove and soak in hot soapy water. Negative shorelady On Aug 28, 2006, shorelady from Moorestown, NJ wrote: Found these critters on an arborvitae. Picked them off and sealed in a plastic bag. After checking the web read about the hot soapy water trick. Think we got them all but a good idea to keep spraying. Bought a chemical from Lowe's geared to bagworms--can't remember the name and have sprayed twice. Will check next spring and spray any eggs that might be growing. Negative fiwfbn On Jul 11, 2007, fiwfbn from Simpsonville, SC wrote: Notice little cones on my Cypress by my front window last year. Alas, I was two late. The bugs have killed two large cyress this year and is working on another tree in my front yard. hopefully we will be able to kill them quckly now we know what they are. They left a trail leading from the cypress to the tree they are now attacking. Distressed Negative ImaFarmer2 On Jan 19, 2008, ImaFarmer2 from Medford, NJ wrote: I own a Conifer Tree Farm in South Jersey and these Bag worms have been attempting to over run my place the last few summers.There are way too many to hand pick off so I armed myself with a backpack sprayer and some liquid "seven" and battled them suckers back.I found that if I start looking for them in early to mid may when they start hatching, they are easier to eliminate with chemical.If you wait till June/July, they are very,very difficult to control because they are big enough to survive and they use their Cocoons to hide from spray applications. Neutral Malus2006 On Jan 23, 2008, Malus2006 from Coon Rapids, MN (Zone 4a) wrote: Those bugs are very common in my yard - I have seen them pupae on walls of the house, etc. It's tough to see any damages.

By aprilwillis By aprilwillis By aprilwillis By weebles64 By hczone6 By TBGDN By TBGDN There are a total of 15 photos. Click here to view them all!