Rappelling worms

[MeaHorn]

Last week, thousands and thousands of green worms (or are they caterpillars) started rappelling down from the live oaks in our yard. It's a mess... they're everywhere and they've made a couple of louge chairs on our patio look like something out of a haunted house (covered in silky spiderweb-like stuff.)

Is there something I can do about this? I think that it will go away in a couple of weeks, but it's making our outdoor area unusable.

 

[Mrmyke709]

Read this thread...Not worms, but caterpillars.

 

[Mrmyke709]

A high pressure sprayer will remove the webbing.

 

[MeaHorn]

Thanks Myke. I guess I'm going to try the BT you mentioned in the other thread.

Are my trees in danger if I don't? Or is this just about the incovenience?

 

[Mrmyke709]

It's all about the incredible mess they make.
It stresses the trees out in a drought year, but we've had plenty of rain.

 

[MeaHorn]

Is there danger with dogs or kids in using the BT? I've never done it...

 

[Mrmyke709]

Nope....it's pretty safe. Hell on caterpillars though.

 

[Longhorn_Fan68]

Myke is the worm whisperer.

He also makes some helly good beer.

 

[Smurfette]

I hate these ********!! All those little black dots you're seeing are their poop!!

 

[Mrmyke709]

I've been looking for some caterpillars that have been attacked by the trychogramma wasps I released. It's like "Alien" in my back yard.
The new wasp larva grows inside the caterpillar, consuming it from the inside.
BWAHAHAA!!!!

 

[NickDanger]

There was an article in the SA paper about New Braunfels being under seige. There isn't a caterpillar in SA as far as I am aware. It seems to be a far North phenomenon.

 

[Agent007]

Try a shotgun. I bet that would take those suckers out. Be wary of little children or dogs in the area however...

 

[TxStHorn]

We used to burn the webs out of the trees - but that's probably frowned upon these days.

I hate those f-ers!!

 

[TEXAS1026]

We've got a whole mess of them since we live out in the country. I've been waging a personal war against them the past week because we are having a big party at our house on saturday. There are 2 huge oaks in the back yard and a grove of them in the front.

 

[washparkhorn]

Use Dipel with a high pressure sprayer. Dipel is Bt - one of the good incesticides. It is soil bacteria that produce a protein that will kill the web worms by causing them to stop eating.

Here is how Aggy marvels at BT:

In reply to:

---

 

[MeaHorn]

Thanks for all the info/advice... I got some BT and a sprayer at Home Depot at lunch. I'll torture the little buggers tonight.

 

[UTEE]

Mea:

Is there any specific brand or style that is recommended? The caterpillars haven't been nearly as bad this year as in years past on my oak tree, but I never knew there was anything I could do about them...

 

[TxStHorn]

Too bad you can't get aggy to eat some of it themselves...

 

[tropheus]

they'll be gone soon, also, a worse than normal year.

 

[MeaHorn]

UTEE:

I just went to Home Depot and found 2 brands that had BT in them. Don't recall the names (I'll post the name of the one I bought later...)

I bought a sprayer also to get the BT into the trees. The BT solution came in a bottle and is supposed to be mixed with water and then sprayed on the trees while the caterpillers are feeding. Says it could take a week with sprayings every couple of days.

I'll post more later...

 

[Smurfette]

"Before dying, they become sluggish, discolored and usually exhibit regurgitation and diarrhea."

Now I have to deal with them puking AND shitting?

 

[MeaHorn]

I bought "Green Light BT Worm Killer". It's like $12 at home depot and it's in a white plastic bottle with a green and yellow label.

I also bought a garden hose sprayer that was a little frustrating because it didn't give me enough water pressure to reach way up into the leaves of most of the trees.

So, I just tried to get the mixture on as much of the tree as was possible. Thank god that **** isn't harmful to humans because it kept ******* raining down when I tried it on the tops of the trees.

Oh well, I guess we'll see in a couple days how effective it is.

 

[Smurfette]

We sprayed yesterday afternoon. I walked out this morning to find one of the little ******** hanging there looking all gray and shriveled, kinda like it had exploded a bit. DIE LITTLE *******!!!!!

 

[Longhorn_Fan68]

Smurf, not sure if you noticed, but the patio was littered with caterpillar carcasses. Mmmm.

 

[Boozehound]

Catapillar or not, these ninja worms must die!

 

[TEXAS1026]

has anyone tried spraying them with dish washing detergent?

My dad did that this morning and said they were dropping out of the trees instantly. I don't know if it was killing them, but it sure did get them down.

 

[Ignatius]

All that **** does is kill the ones that are already migrating; you'd need to do that about 3-4 times over the course of the past 3 weeks to get rid of all those *******...