{"id":9437,"date":"2017-06-19T08:00:18","date_gmt":"2017-06-19T08:00:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/fnr\/extension\/?p=9437"},"modified":"2025-08-04T16:27:25","modified_gmt":"2025-08-04T20:27:25","slug":"bagworm-caterpillars-are-out-feeding-be-ready-to-spray-your-trees","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/fnr\/extension\/bagworm-caterpillars-are-out-feeding-be-ready-to-spray-your-trees\/","title":{"rendered":"Bagworm caterpillars are out feeding, be ready to spray your trees"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Bagworm<\/a>The evergreen bagworm, as its name implies, is well known for its ability to defoliate evergreen trees and shrubs like spruce, arborvitae, fir, junipers and pine. When given a chance, it will also feed on deciduous trees like maples, honeylocust, and crabapples. In late May and early June bagworms hatch from eggs that overwinter in the bag of their mother. When young bagworms begin feeding on broadleaved plants the caterpillars are too small to feed all the way through, so they leave circular patterns of skeletonization. Bagworms can be easily controlled with a spray application of spinosad (Conserve, or Fertilome borer and bagworm killer), or Bacillus thuringiensis (Dipel). More control options are available on the Purdue Tree Doctor App, purdueplantdoctor.com.<\/p>\n

View this video located on the Purdue Plant Doctor App Suite Facebook<\/a> page to watch a young bagworm caterpillar poke its head out of its silken bag to feed on a maple leaf. The young caterpillar scrapes the leaf surface to feed, and cuts bits of green tissue and glues it on its back. At the end of the video it sticks out its legs and flips the entire bag over to hide from the lights.<\/p>\n

Resources:
\n<\/strong>Purdue Plant Doctor App Suite<\/a>, Purdue Extension-Entomology
\nLandscape & Ornamentals: Bagworms<\/a>, The Education Store
\nUpcoming Workshops<\/a>, Purdue Extension-Forestry & Natural Resources
\nAsk An Expert<\/a>,\u00a0Purdue Extension-Forestry & Natural Resources<\/p>\n

FNR contacts:<\/strong>
\nLindsey Purcell<\/a>, Urban Forestry Specialist
\nPurdue University, Department of Forestry and Natural Resources<\/p>\n

Lenny D Farlee<\/a>, Sustaining Hardwood Extension Specialist
\nPurdue University Department of Forestry and Natural Resources<\/p>\n

Author:
\n<\/strong>Cliff Sadof<\/a>, Professor
\nPurdue University Department of Entomology<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The evergreen bagworm, as its name implies, is well known for its ability to defoliate evergreen trees and shrubs like spruce, arborvitae, fir, junipers and pine. When given a chance, it will also feed on deciduous trees like maples, honeylocust, and crabapples. In late May and early June bagworms hatch from eggs that overwinter in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[38,80,45,49,53],"tags":[668,1165,1463,1460,1462,1461,1459,67,257,669,408],"class_list":["post-9437","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-alert","category-trees","category-howto","category-plants","category-urbanforestry","tag-bagworms","tag-blue-spruce","tag-crabapples","tag-evergreen","tag-honeylocust","tag-maples","tag-pine","tag-plants","tag-purdue-extension","tag-purdue-plant-doctor-app","tag-trees","audience-for-enthusiasts","audience-for-homeowners","audience-for-landowners","audience-for-professionals"],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-04-17 10:37:35","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/fnr\/extension\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9437","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/fnr\/extension\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/fnr\/extension\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/fnr\/extension\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/fnr\/extension\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9437"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/fnr\/extension\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9437\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":34293,"href":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/fnr\/extension\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9437\/revisions\/34293"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/fnr\/extension\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9437"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/fnr\/extension\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9437"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/fnr\/extension\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9437"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}