Not everyone has them and those that have them don’t want them. What I’m talking about are bagworms. Bagworms hang like ornaments on a Christmas tree. The bag is actually a cocoon for the larval stage of an adult moth. They prefer evergreens in the Juniper family but will inhabit other types of shrubs and trees. In small numbers they are relatively harmless. But when they reach infestation level they can kill the host plant. They strip the host plant of foliage to make the bags.
Scouting your shrubs is the key to defeating bagworms. When they are young and in the process of building the bag they are quite susceptible to insecticide. Your arsenal can include Bt (Bacillus thuringiensis), Seven, and Malathion, permethrin or pyrethrums. As they get older the bag gets tougher and insecticide can’t penetrate the bag. If you get to this stage, physical removal is the only alternative.
