Webworm Control – Taxus and Ilex

The Taxus and Ilex Webworm appears very early in spring and causes severe chewing damage on leaves. They use a web to create a tight enclosure where they can feed well protected from the elements. If left unattended, the small caterpillars will feed freely until late summer, when they transform into a small brown moth, leaving blotches of dead foliage on the hedges.

We recommend two applications of BT in early spring. BT is an abbreviation for the bacteria called Bacillus thuringiensis which kills some groups of insects. BT is a biological product that occurs naturally and is commonly found in soils worldwide. BT products contain highly specialized protein crystals and dormant spores of the bacteria that are only activated when they are eaten by susceptible species of insect such as the Taxus Webworm. One of the best features of BT is that it is highly specific; meaning it only affects certain species of insects and does not affect earthworms, honeybees, birds, mammals etc.