Caterpillars and their webs are invading trees in Hall County — and other parts of Georgia.

Webworms, a part of the moth family, spin 3-to-4-foot-long nests with lots of caterpillars inside. The pests eat tree leaves, while the web protects them from birds, Hall County agriculture extension agent Michael Wheeler told Channel 2 Action News.

Usually, the worms appear in mid-August, but they arrived about a month early this year.

Wheeler said the scary-looking nests worry homeowners more than is necessary.

“They think it’s spiders,” Wheeler said about “freaked-out” residents.

Though the pests aren’t likely to harm healthy trees, Hall County trees have a higher than usual number of webworms.

“It just seems to be more of them,” Wheeler said. “Coming up the highways you just see a lot of them, multiple nests in single trees. It just seems like this is a more significant year than normal.”

For those who can reach, a broom is all it takes to knock the worms down. When they’re higher up, not much can be done.

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Peachtree Center in downtown Atlanta is seen returning to business Wednesday morning, June 12, 2024 after a shooting on Tuesday afternoon left the suspect and three other people injured. (John Spink/AJC)

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