Web worms overhead

No danger posed to trees

By TOM KANE

RIVER VALLEY - It’s not harming the trees, it just looks awful.

That was the conclusion of two horticultural and forestry experts from Wayne County, PA and Sullivan County, NY.

It’s been hard to miss, the ugly white gossamer-like tents that hang on many trees in the area. What you are witnessing is not the work of tent caterpillars or gypsy moths. Instead, it’s the handiwork of what botanists call the web worm.

Pike County doesn’t seem to have this problem. Theirs is the gypsy moth, another pest with a past.

“The web worm comes in the fall when the trees are going dormant and have already stored up enough carbohydrates to last them until spring,” said Marianna Quartararo, community educator for the Cornell Cooperative Extension in Sullivan County. “Earlier pests like the eastern tent caterpillar and the forest caterpillar can do a lot of damage to trees when they’re growing, when the tree has not had enough of a chance to store nutrients.

Shade trees and ornamentals can be heavily defoliated and the presence of the large, unsightly webs can make them aesthetically detracting, she said.

Is there any way to control or lessen the web worm?

“You can spray, but it must be done in mid-July when they first appear,” she said. “Now, it’s too late. You’d only be wasting your money.”

The spray you should use in July is a common organic vegetation spray called bT that just kills web worms, she said.

“What you could do is tag the tree now because most likely it will appear again, then you could effectively spray and do some good,” Quartararo said.

Jack Gearhart, the service forester for Wayne and Susquehanna counties, had a similar message, but didn’t recommend using the tag method to attack next year. “I’m not so sure it will do any good,” he said. “It’s not hurting the trees. It just looks terrible,” he said, although he added, “If you really can’t stand it, maybe you could try tagging and spraying next summer.”