Weirdest Pest I've ever seen! Any ideas?

9 years ago

I have the most interesting thing eating the leaves off a Japanese maple. It's so interesting. I'll have to post pics separately, so please bear with me.

It's hard to see, but what stopped me from just pulling it off as a fallen leaf, was that it had some of that green plastic tape woven into it, that's used to tie up plants.

Then I noticed it also have leaves carefully organized, stems up, leaf stuff down.

THEN, I noticed it was moving. From place to place, and even breathing.

Looking closely, there's some kind of worm or bug in there that moves with its teeth and maybe front legs up and down the branches. I saw it holding a new leaf in its mouth, yet still holding onto the branches. When it saw me, it ducked into it's cocoon(?) nest(?) and just hung there. When it was safe, it started again. It never let go of it's desired leaf.

It's so interesting, I can't just pick it off and throw this creature away!

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Comments (7)

CEFreeman
Original Author
9 years ago
Ok, here's a view of it eating the little limb. He doesn't seem to sever them, but he'll bite off a leaf. I can't tell if he's eating them or just increasing his cocoon-y thing.

Sorry about the cell quality. and my dirty gardening hands!
CEFreeman
Original Author
9 years ago
So what do you think?
He's only about 1.5" long, and around like a preying mantis cocoon.

Interesting!
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lazy_gardens
9 years ago
NOPe ... Walking Stick (I mistook the stem for the bug)

Better pictures would be good.

Maybe this one -

http://rhamphotheca.tumblr.com/post/16367080162/the-caterpillar-of-the-wavy-emerald-moth

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Synchlora_aerata

This post was edited by lazygardens on Tue, Aug 12, 14 at 10:51
mikebotann
9 years ago
I have a better picture of a Stick bug. There are a lot of different kinds. This one is from Australia, I think. It's on a friend of mine.
We raised a bunch of them a few years ago.
Mike
CEFreeman
Original Author
9 years ago
Thanks, but in the meanwhile, I found it. Right down to the "T" between different sites.

Insecticides don't really effect them, and they're dangerously invasive and destructive.

It's a bag worm.

The sad part is I feel like it's a little creature. Making her nest, weaving things together.

But due to dire warnings, not only from entomologists, people for whom everything is worthy of hysteria, agricultural sites, and just the eating of my maple, I've cut the bag work out and flushed her down the toilet.

Insecticides might not work, but I doubt she'll survive drowning. I'm sad. Stupid, but sad.
mikebotann
9 years ago
The first time I saw bag worms was in Johnson City, Texas, July 4th 1964. They were hanging all over the junipers and looked like dull colored Christmas tree ornaments. I'm glad we don't have them here....yet.
I fed my stick bugs blackberry leaves. Unlike bag worms, they left my ornamentals alone.
Mike
CEFreeman
Original Author
9 years ago
What I didn't come back and report, is that after I drowned that poor girl, that very afternoon I was walking through the garden and lo! (like that? Lo!) There was a lady dressed in red. A bag work on my JM 'Fireglow' had an all red bag and was industriously moving up and down the branch. I was so sad to clip the branch and drown her, too.

Then a few days later I was talking with my neighbor, who told me he'd had bag worms all over the place and was plucking them off, squishing their bags, and putting them into the garbage. He said they were everywhere. He's down wind of me, so perhaps that's why I've only found two so far. I was just glad this somewhat nutty man just didn't throw them into his compost pile, or the eggs would have had a field day.

So sad. I really didn't think we had them here, since there isn't any info or advisory on any MD agg sites.

Well, I've got enough pests to deal with. Those Japanese moth web bags are showing up now. Just out of reach for me, unfortunately.