BAGWORMS ARE KILLING MY ARBOVITAE

I lost the trees! Are you sure they're dead? Are bagworms the same as tentworms? The gypsie moth larva?

What you need is SAVIN, made by Ortho. You can get it a powder form if your shrubs are small or in a liquid form that can be sprayed. It should be available at Lowe's etc. If your trees are taller than, say, 10-12 feet you may need to get a yard-care service to do the job.
The really bad news is that control needs to be neighborhood wide.
You can eradicate them on your bushes but if your neighbor doesn't take care of his, they will come creeping back to your place.

I had them on an arborvitae when we lived in Texas about 15 years ago. A hailstorm had stripped off a lot of the foilage from the arborvitae, so I didn't realize we had bagworms until they got really bad. Fortunately, this wasn't all over the neighborhood, so I was able to pick them off instead of using pesticides.

I'd guess that if you went to the nursery section of a Walmart or Kmart, they'd have a general purpose insecticide that would probably work. Good luck.

The bagworm is native to the United States and is found in eastern Nebraska. Bagworms feed on many species of trees and shrubs, but are most common on junipers. They are rarely a serious problem on deciduous trees, except when larvae move away from evergreens.

Damage
In urban areas, bagworms are most common on evergreen trees and shrubs. Juniper, arborvitae, pine, and spruce may be killed if completely defoliated. Less severe attacks can slow growth.

Fully grown bagworms on juniper (36K JPG).

Bagworms feed on shade, orchard, and forest trees of nearly every kind, as well as many ornamental shrubs and perennials. Severe attacks are unusual. Since deciduous plants grow new leaves, damage to them is usually not serious. The growth of small or newly planted trees, however, could be slowed by leaf feeding.


Description
Newly hatched larvae begin to spin silken bags around themselves shortly after hatching. The first evidence of infestation is the presence of 1/4 inch bags which are carried almost on end by the young caterpillars inside. As larvae grow, leaf fragments are added to the bag, which may reach a length of 2 inches by the end of summer. The adult female moth is wingless and never leaves the bag. Adult males are small, grey moths with clear wings.

Life History
Bagworms overwinter in the egg stage inside female bags fastened to twigs. Eggs hatch in late May and early June, and larvae feed until late August or early September. Males emerge in September and mate with females through the bag entrance.

Cultural Control
Control infestations on small trees and shrubs by removing bags during the winter and spring before the eggs begin to hatch in late May. Destroy bags by burning, immersing in kerosene or by crushing. If bags containing larvae are discarded on the ground, the larvae can return to host plants.

Chemical Control
Chemical controls are effective if applied during early stages of bagworm development. For most effective insecticidal control and prevention of damage, apply sprays from mid- to late-June. The following insecticides are registered for control of bagworms on ornamental plants:

Insecticidea Formulation per
gallon water
acephate (Orthene 9.4% EC) 3 Tbsp
Bacillus thuringiensis (Dipel 2X) 1 tsp
carbaryl (Sevin 50WP) 2 Tbsp
chlorpyrifos (Dursban 2E) 1 tsp
diazinon (Diazinon 25EC) 2 tsp
-------- (Diazinon 50WP) 1 Tbsp
dimethoate (Cygon 2E) 4 tsp
malathion (Malathion 57EC) 2 tsp

aDo not apply acephate (Orthene) to elm, crabapple, maple, cottonwood, redbud or weigelia. Do not apply malathion to Canaerti juniper.
NOTE: Wettable powders are less likely to cause injury than liquid formulations.

Caution: Use all insecticides with caution to avoid injury to bees or other animals, or excessive exposure to humans. Always read, understand, and follow label directions. Store pesticides in original labeled containers out of reach of children. Minimize hazards by rinsing empty metal, glass, and plastic containers with water. Two rinsings eliminate 95% of the removable pesticide. Then place rinsed containers in the garbage or bury.

Thank you all for the info. Ive now got a task set out. As soon as the weather warms , I will probably go with a double dose of Dursban and Sevin. The dead trees are totally denuded and they show no signs of life. The other trees are already showing growth.
Theres a development down the road a few miles and the people have all shown bagworm infestation on shrubs .

My husband is ready to spray trees with kerosene to get rid of the bag worms. Bad idea?

Id think that kerosene may be a bit deadly of a spray (full strength)> We use kero as a "sticker" when mixing a dormant oil, But we only make a solution with about 2% kro. YOU DONT want to wax up the stoma and petroleum hydrocarbons are pretty good solvents that will dissolve the cuticle on the needles
I picked as many as I could get and then got some detergent and made a soapy mix. The detergent was an emulsifier and it soaked into the bags and next spray I added some SEVIN, and it seemed to work.
I lost about 25% of my trees. I had a psture fence of a few hundred trees on the side where we have some houses.

Arborvitae = thuja occidentalis.

Best of luck,fm; probably a matter of time before they get here.