If you just moved in a new house and own a property, one of the first things that you will enjoy this time of year are the gorgeous colors of trees and shrubs, the tantalizing scents of flowers and the spectacular beauty covering the land. However, you might also notice some ugly-looking web cocoons in your trees looking like nests. In case you didn’t know, these are webworm nests and they are pretty common for fruit trees in Illinois. Today, our tree service Peru, IL will share some of their tips and recommendations regarding the control of webworms and their nests this fall.

1. What Are Webworms?

Webworms are insects in love with almost all deciduous trees and some shrubs as well. They have a soft spot for crab apple trees, hickory, pecan, maple, oak, redbud, and black walnut trees, among others. You can call them caterpillars and they look like worms featuring a pale green to yellow color and being covered with long, white hairs. The fall webworms are more present in August and September, but you can also notice them around in mid fall as well.

Their nests are usually located at the end of the branches and play a protective role for the caterpillars from birds, ensuring the webworms’ growth. As the caterpillars feed, their nests become wider and wider, expanding and incorporating new leaves once the already included ones are eaten. According to the specialists in the field, the caterpillar nests can reach 2 to 3 feet width.

2. How to Keep Webworms under Control?

If there are just two or three nests still hanging by a few of your trees’ branches, the damages will likely be minimal. However, if the nests started expanding in August and September and the caterpillars continue to grow, then you have an issue to deal with. While you can ignore a nest placed on top of a tree or a shrub nobody looks at, you cannot ignore large agglomerations of nests – especially if the eaten leaves managed to lead to the development of new buds.

During this time of year, control can take an aesthetic route or a more serious one. Call your tree service Peru, IL specialists if you just want to reach high enough in the trees to tear apart the nests. Your team can also prune the affected branches without altering the looks of the trees.

Keep in mind that the silk webbing nests are waterproof, so if you thought about spraying them, you will be disappointed to say the least. There are, however, insecticides that work well against webworms if applied in the correct amount at the right time. The tree service Peru, IL experts advise you to call specialized services which can aid you with using insecticides on these nests. If you want to take things in your hands, make sure that even if you spray, you spray with high pressure, so the insecticide can break the web and hit the webworms and the leaves.

Webworms are more dangerous when they are many, but in the end it’s up to you to decide if you let them be or get rid of them quickly.