Identification
- Bagworms are the larvae of the bagworm moth (Thyridopteryx ephemeraeformis). These insects feast on foliage and spin silken sacks covered with the scales of the cedar. This provides the bagworm effective camouflage from predators. The moth's eggs overwinter in a silk bag produced by the female. The bag also contains the body of the dead mother.
Life Cycles
- The eggs hatch in April or May and the larvae immediately begin feeding and producing their bags, which eventually reach a length of more than 1 inch and hang from stems or twigs on the tree. The female bagworm begins transforming into an adult in August with males emerging later that month or September. The males fly from bag to bag searching for wingless females that remain inside their protective covers.
Description
- Adult males possess a black, hairy body and a wingspan of approximately 1 inch, while the females are similar in appearance to maggots. They are yellowish-white in color with no wings or legs and only a small circle of hairs at the end of the abdomen. The bagworm larvae claim a brown abdomen and a white head with spots and eventually grow to 1 inch in length. The female bagworm lays several hundred white eggs and produces one generation annually.
Management
- Bagworm larvae are capable of completely defoliating trees, a dilemma that has the potential to kill the cedar. As the silken bags are easy to spot hanging from the tree, the simplest bagworm eradication method is to inspect the cedar in winter, remove the bags by hand and destroy the eggs inside. Conduct chemical control through spraying in June when all the larvae have emerged from their bags. Spraying before that is ineffective as the bagworms are too well protected inside their silken homes.
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