Source: NCSU COOPERATIVE EXTENSION, 11/15/21


It’s hard not to love this time of year between the spectacle of fall colors and the reprieve of cooling temperatures. And although trees are losing leaves, now is an important time to take precautionary measures if cankerworms are your tree’s #1 enemy each spring.

What are cankerworms?

Cankerworms are small caterpillars that eat tree leaves. They feed on numerous hardwood trees, including (but not limited to): red and white oak, maple, ash, basswood, beech, black cherry, apple, elm, and hickory. In urban areas, they can be quite abundant, contributing to tree stress and mortality. They’re also considered a nuisance, hanging from silken threads and dropping onto people and cars and raining down loads of frass (=bug excrement). They can also strip entire trees of their leaves, leading to an aesthetically displeasing bare tree in the spring, when the world around it is going green. Between the stress they cause to trees, the annoyance factor, and aesthetic concerns, many choose to band their trees for cankerworm management.

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