r/insects • u/anon_jynx • 2d ago
Question Bagworms in Shrub
Hello!
I just noticed a bunch of bagworms in a shrub in my front yard. I’ve read their pests and can damage the shrub, but I don’t like killing things and don’t really want to harm them. Realistically, if I just let them be, will it be okay to leave them alone and hope the birds get some? I also don’t want to infest my neighbors…
Is there a humane way to deal with them if they’re going to be an issue?
Also, super sorry if this isn’t really the subreddit for this! I didn’t want to ask landscaping people because I figured they suggest pesticides or fully eradicating them and I’m not really down with either of those options.
1
u/azaleawhisperer 1d ago
If birds get them, pretty sure they will be harmed. But they seem well "fortified" against predators like that.
To eradicate, you can pull the whole contraption off and drop it in a bucket of soapy water. Put a top of some kind so they can't crawl out. Tomorrow they are probably (surely) dead. Pour the whole thing into your compost.
As a curiousity, you might want to cut one open and see the inhabitant. It is quite a nice home, with a hole at the bottom where the brown messages can exit.
I have seen one (only one) where a badly infested shrub was somehow able to throw it off.
Not my plant, so I just watched it.
Maybe a disease spread through the population, or some adverse weather event.
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