Whats those white webs on the trees ? (organic, garden)

[mathjak107]

Driving along i-84 i saw sooooo many trees with these big white webs. are those gypsy moths?

[ff18wife]

Yes, they are.

[nkotb]

Yes, they are the 'kids' for next year !!!

[poconoproud]

I don't understand why the townships don't clip the effected branches, chuck them all in a pile and blaze it up. We clip off gypsy moth effected branches in my yard, and douse them with gas..instantly kills them. They are just so ugly hanging there!

[Dawne]

I thought they were tent caterpillars, which I think are different from gypsy moths.

There are probably too many of them to clip of all the branches. That would leave some pretty ugly trees. And can you imagine the manpower required to do that type of trimming? A homeowner could take care of his own trees, but for the state to do all the trees along the road, and then if you didn't get all the trees, including the ones back in the woods, it would be pretty pointless, I would think.

[BLUEDIAMOND64]

Originally Posted by mathjak107

Driving along i-84 i saw sooooo many trees with these big white webs. are those gypsy moths?

LOL, math, you have to get up to the Country more....in fact you will find information about the gypsy moth spraying all over. They spray with helicopters and it is expensive.

[sausages]

But may do next year.

[ff18wife]

I "heard" that they did not spray in Pike cty because "it" wasn't bad enough....now those things are ALL OVER the place. I think they should consistently spray every year to keep it under control.

[MermanMike]

I agree with Dawne that most of what you are seeing is the tent caterpillar, not gypsy moths. Although there are gypsy moths too. Part of keeping the forest healthy is the bugs that eat the leaves and branches. These bugs accelerate the process of decomposition, keeping the forest healthy. They eat the leaves, they die, and become part of the soil.

Because of poor forest stewardship on the part of the state and many large land owners, aerial spraying seems necessary so that the bugs do not kill trees. They do not normally kill trees but if a forest has been particularly devastated by logging, which usually means that certain trees deemed not valuable (i.e. birch, etc.) begin to be almost a monoculture in the forest, then there is the danger that these bugs could kill the leftover species, because the biodiversity of the forest has been so ill-cared for.

The bugs do serve an important role in the healthy ecosystem. And any problems they seem to create really just stem from poor land stewardship. I know some organic farmers who have had to fight pretty hard to get the townships around here to not do aerial spraying. And luckily they have won. I for one do not want my kitchen garden covered with bug killer.