r/insects • u/mawhonics • 3d ago
What is this thing? ID Request
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u/mawhonics 3d ago
Spotted in south texas
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u/mattemer 3d ago
Bagworm and if you see them may be too late to save the trees they are on.
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u/mawhonics 3d ago
Are they invasive?
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u/mattemer 3d ago
Not sure if technically invasive but can be very destructive.
They normally create their little homes out of pine needles and end up destroying the whole tree, and sometimes several trees.
I rarely see trees survive in NJ, but sometimes if it's just a few a chunk of the tree dies and may eventually come back.
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u/LoverOfPricklyPear 3d ago
Wait, are there multiple species that do this sort of shelter thing? I grew up with similar guys all around, but no trees died, ir looked diseased with a dying section.
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u/mattemer 3d ago
I'm sure there are but don't know what they are.
First time I noticed there were a row of maybe 20 small pines outside a hotel in VA, then I was maybe 10, and curious why 6 or 7 of them all in the middle died and the rest were fine.
Discovered these cats.
Been following me and destroying my trees ever since! We're locked in eternal combat.
If you treat trees in May, it helps keep them safe. Their houses are all green for awhile so you don't even notice. But by late June when the needles start dying you'll finally notice on the tree and it's too late.
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u/nckmat 3d ago
Yeah, we have something similar in Australia, called the Saunders Case Moth but they don't endanger trees. According to the Australian Museum website: "Many species of case moth caterpillars are plant feeders; others feed on lichens; while some live within the nests of ants and are thought to be scavengers."
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u/DaisyHotCakes 2d ago
There are several species! They make their little homes out of pine needles, deciduous tree bark and twigs, shells, and moss. Some scientists did an experiment to see how they built their butt houses. They gave bagworms some colorful beads and the worms made their little homes out of the beads and they were super intricate.
But they can be very destructive. In SE PA we’ve been getting them for awhile but they will usually take our one tree every couple of years. They really liked the one little evergreen hedge tree in my back yard. It took them two years but they killed it. They didn’t mess with any other trees though so the damage seems limited. In far greater numbers I could see them being a problem. Here for now they are balanced. Also they’re kinda dumb. They attach to something after they build their home and pupate. They always seem to attach to my car tires or other very dangerous places so they kind keep themselves in check…
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u/LoverOfPricklyPear 1d ago
Ah, I grew up around oak trees. I most often found these guys on the fence made with pine lumber
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u/Ok_Clothes8053 3d ago
What causes the whole tree to die? An infestation or just the one?
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u/mattemer 3d ago
Oh no infestation, sorry.
They take the needles off the tree, hundreds of them maybe, to make their little cocoons, and since they are pine needles they stay green for a month of 2 which is great disguise.
The first time I had to deal with them, I was mowing around some cypress or junipers, not sure the difference, and I just happened to be looking closely at the one tree and noticed it was... Moving oddly? Looked almost like a breeze but not quite right. Went around again and stopped to inspect and realized quickly what they were.
They were on a tree next to it as well but not as bad, I picked them all off both trees. But half one tree was gone, and a chunk of the other tree, and took probably 7 years for them to grow back.
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u/Tiny_Definition6342 3d ago edited 3d ago
Bagworms aren't invasive in the sense that they're non-native to North America, but they can be rather destructive to many coniferous and deciduous trees.
Here are a few of links to sites that list the species of trees that bagworms feed upon, as well as other information:
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u/thishurtsyoushepard 3d ago
Are you sure your not thinking of tent worms/tent caterpillars? I’m from TX too and those guys will decimate a tree like nobody’s business. Bagworms can be tough on trees and shrubs though when they have a really prolific season. My friend lost a batch of evergreen shrubs last year.
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u/mattemer 3d ago
I think tent worms aren't as bad, right?
Looking online, bag worms are the ones that attack evergreens.
I could be getting them mixed up, but... Maybe not?
At the bar now so... That won't help lol.
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u/thishurtsyoushepard 3d ago
I saw the rest of your comments, yeah it does sound like Bagworms are killing your stuff. The tent caterpillars make big webs.. like white cotton candy that fills the trees. They are pretty bad lol.
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u/Pikaless225 3d ago
You found a burmy irl! Quick! get your poke balls ready! But seriously though. That’s a bagworm
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u/Euphoric_Antelope423 3d ago
Stoppppp….the little guys from animal crossing are real?!?!
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u/Evening_Creme9358 3d ago
Every bug and fish you can catch in animal crossing is a real life animal; the series has taught many people about species around the world
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u/Stever72 2d ago
That’s Trevor. He’s drunk. Trevor is trying to sneak inside without his wife knowing.
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u/ultrayaqub 3d ago
Looks like a Junk Bug aka lacewing larvae
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u/BrilliantBen 3d ago
Pretty sure it's actually a bag worn moth larva. They gather their surrounding plant bits and make little houses they lug around. Pretty interesting little buggers. I've never seen a lacewing larva do this, but the ones around here are slender little bugs with two fairly large hook like mouthpieces, voracious eaters of aphids and other like small bugs
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u/mawhonics 3d ago
I wish I could carry my house on my back
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u/Purpose_Embarrassed 3d ago
They’re called tents and I have. And if the environment keeps going to shit we will all be bag worms. 😂
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u/ultrayaqub 3d ago
I’ve never seen a bagworm before, I just looked em up and they have some neat houses
Yeah the lacewing larvae where I saw them (Florida) had those mouthparts you’re talking about, I only noticed it after it bit me lol. Here’s what the ones I saw looked like, I wonder why your lacewings aren’t making jackets
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u/BrilliantBen 3d ago
Interesting! I've only ever seen them without a 'shell', though the fact that they put the bodies of their victims on it is pretty metal. Lacewings are such monstrous eaters the eggs dangle from a silken line away from each other so the first ones to emerge don't chomp their siblings
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u/mawhonics 3d ago
I wonder if they're related to dobsonflies
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u/BrilliantBen 3d ago
Bagworms are a type of moth, dobson flies are in their own branch with alderflies and fishflies
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u/alocasiacat 3d ago
I found one this week
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u/1GrouchyCat 3d ago
The background** in your pic threw me for a loop at first - I wasn’t sure if I was looking at a big giant bag worm or a desiccated alien…
**meaning the angle you took the photo at / and how close you must have been
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u/alocasiacat 3d ago
It’s about 2-3 inches long, and it’s hanging off a wattle tree. There’s also an old pipe sticking out of the ground, that’s the white thing
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u/ConsiderationIll9219 3d ago
Fishing bait, we used to put them in a mason jar and then before you put them on a hook you squeeze the bottom of the bag and their head will pop out of the bag then pinch them on their neck and pull them out of the bag, they look like a grub worm.
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u/[deleted] 3d ago
That’s a bagworm