Here’s What To Know About The Dangerous Cocoon Popping Up In Illinois Trees

Spring means all parts of nature are coming back to life.

Our trees are looking more full and we're taking care of our gardens and lawns. As we're outside more and enjoying all of the pretty weather, there's one small thing that could throw a wrench in that plan.

The University of Illinois and other arborists are warning you to be on the lookout for a certain thing hanging from one of your tree branches. Or actually, really anywhere that there's a surface it can hang from.

Look Through Your Tree Branches

These poor trees of ours did not put up a fight all winter to fall victim to these little brats.

You want to look through your branches to see if you find bagworm cocoons. Bagworms are common in the Midwest and attack over 120 kinds of trees (though they love spruce and cedar). These cocoons can contain up to 1,000 eggs of little bagworms ready to munch their way through your trees.

The cocoons look like this:

It's almost time for the eggs to hatch, as that happens in late spring/early summer.

The easiest way to get rid of them, according to experts, is to cut off the cocoons by hand and destroy them. Make sure to get the silks at the top of the cocoons too, since that can strangle the branch.

But bagworms are open-minded when it comes to real estate. Look at where else you could find them.

If you catch bagworms in time, even if they've started work munching through your trees, the tree can generally bounce back after you remove the bagworms.

If you do find a bunch of bagworm cocoons and you don't want to squish them all or aren't sure what to do about it, you can reach out to local removal experts.