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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