Attack of the half inch Worms... (Charlotte: houses, neighborhoods, live in)

[Mr.Sippi]

..ok. Another reason for you worry warts to not move here. Millions of inch worms. I just went outside to uncover my Tomato plants and was assaulted by webs and just discovered a green worm climbing up my chest...

[labrat]

Are these the green horned tomato worms? or inch worms? And what about the web. I never knew they did that.

But the Tomato horned worms are all over the country I think.

[Charlottean]

Canker (sp?) worms

[LAMF]

Originally Posted by Charlottean

Canker (sp?) worms

Aren't these worms the reason so many neighborhoods push tree banding?

I am surrounded by trees here, and thus by these damn worms, and have been thinking about putting bands up. I am still not really sure what they do, but it looks like they catch the worms as they crawl up from the ground, before they can get into the trees and do their little slow motion bungee jump onto my head.

[Anu2]

What other little non four-legged critters live in Charlotte? Worms don't bother me t much. It's big bugs, bugs that bite, bugs that sting, and anything that comes in swarms that bugs me!

[Charlottean]

Yes, these are the worms that force people to put the bands up.

They do seem to bungee on you!

[winston2000]

Originally Posted by LAMF

Aren't these worms the reason so many neighborhoods push tree banding?

I am surrounded by trees here, and thus by these damn worms, and have been thinking about putting bands up. I am still not really sure what they do, but it looks like they catch the worms as they crawl up from the ground, before they can get into the trees and do their little slow motion bungee jump onto my head.

Yes you are correct- these are the reason for tree banding in Myers Park, Dilworth & Elizabeth. They are called Fall Cankerworm because in the fall the wingless female insect crawls up the trunk of the trees. (This actually happens in December and January here in Charlotte and the southeast.) The female mates with the male Fall Cankerworm and then climbs the tree to lay eggs in the branches. In the early spring, these eggs hatch into small greenish-gray worms that hang by slender threads from the trees. Once the larvae emerge, they begin feeding on the leaves of the trees, as they have done to many of our willow oaks. Fall Cankerworms also feed on azalea blossoms, birch foliage, and dogwood foliage. This loss of foliage eventually results in the death of the trees.

Three years of defoliation will often kill a tree.

[Mr.Sippi]

Im not sure if these are the cankers or not. We banded our only hardwood tree and they are still in my yard. Of course, im not sure if any are up in the hardwood tree. But they are everywhere else.

[winston2000]

Originally Posted by Mr.Sippi

Im not sure if these are the cankers or not. We banded our only hardwood tree and they are still in my yard. Of course, im not sure if any are up in the hardwood tree. But they are everywhere else.

I banded, and I still had to dodge the curtain of hanging worms this morning on the way to the car. Problem is, you may band, but if your neighbors don't, then the worms still have access.

[Mr.Sippi]

i was thinking the same thing. Our next door houses were not banded. And the trees are taller. I guess we wasted our money. To be honest, this tree puts out SO much pollen, pollen pods, and leaves in the fall i hope they eat them all!

Originally Posted by winston2000

I banded, and I still had to dodge the curtain of hanging worms this morning on the way to the car. Problem is, you may band, but if your neighbors don't, then the worms still have access.