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Anonymous
so /an/, I seem to have a caterpillar infestation in my crab apple tree. past years its never been this bad though. its like they're living on and inside the tree now, with a hive I guess you'd call it on every branch. what would be the best way to remove them, without damaging the tree?

pic related, few more to follow
>> Anonymous
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>> Anonymous
The tree is fucked, grab your flamethrower before they spread.
>> Anonymous
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>> Anonymous
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>>245512

nothing I can do at all?
>> Barksalot !!bUy38Am5hmk
You live in Australia?
Destroy the nests with a long stick, step on caterpillars.
Try diluted pyrethrin for the surviving rest. Ask at nursery. Might poison the apples though. :/
>> Anonymous
Maybe flush with really soapy water? With bees and some other critters it suffocates them.
>> Anonymous
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I live in the USA, Pennsylvania. I really wouldn't want to risk poisoning the apples, cause the tree is close by my house, and its amazing to see a family of 3 deer eating the apples every once and awhile.

up until this point we've been just cutting the branches off that were infected, usually would only be like 2-3 nests per summer. now it seems like theres one in every branch and on the tree even.
>> Anonymous
well to make it clear not the entire branch, but just after the point at which the nest took over.
>> Anonymous
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last one here, closeup of a nest. kinda dark, though.
>> BitterAnon !!WJLRQ1cwCyZ
>>245525
They just wanna play some bball, man.
>> Anonymous
I would suggest either a insecticide or as an alternative making a small smoky fire below, not a big fire or you will damage the tree
>> Anonymous
>>245530

lol yeah I have no idea what they're doing on it, but thought I should take a picture of it.

should I challenge them to some 1 on 1?
>> Anonymous
that tree is right fucked

btw, what kind of camera did you use to take these? they're beautiful..
>> Barksalot !!bUy38Am5hmk
>>245525
Ah. I'm pretty surprised you live in the US, since I have these nests on my property as well and they are exactly the same size!
I know that pyrethrin is one of the least dangerous poisons you can use -, just don't mistake it for permethrin, which is pretty dangerous.
You need to check if pyrethrin can be used on fruit bearing trees. Also, tea tree oil or lemon juice could help with some pests, but you need to find out if it works on caterpillars.
>> Anonymous
>>24553
I actually just got in not a few hours before taking them. its a Fujifilm Finepix S700.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16830122110
>> BitterAnon !!WJLRQ1cwCyZ
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>>245533
Looks like they're trying to do some kind of court rush because that is already way too many players. Maybe shirts vs skins no limits? Clearly they are skins.
>> BitterAnon !!WJLRQ1cwCyZ
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>>245542
>> BitterAnon !!WJLRQ1cwCyZ
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>>245544
>> Anonymous
>>245540

I'll check into some of those, thanks!
>> BitterAnon !!WJLRQ1cwCyZ
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>>245545
>> Anonymous
>>245536
appears to be a Fujifilm - FinePix s5700 s700
>> BitterAnon !!WJLRQ1cwCyZ
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>> BitterAnon !!WJLRQ1cwCyZ
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At least yours dont look like maggots
>> BitterAnon !!WJLRQ1cwCyZ
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>> Anonymous
>>245545
>>245544
>>245542

I think I'd be outplayed to be honest.

and yeah, I hate caterpillars. wouldn't even want to touch that bike, how long did that take?
>> BitterAnon !!WJLRQ1cwCyZ
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>> Anonymous
yeah I'm glad they kinda look like fuzzy little harmless tree killing bugs rather then a maggot, lol.
>> BitterAnon !!WJLRQ1cwCyZ
>>245552
No idea, I got them from here :
http://user.it.uu.se/~svens/larverna/normal.html

Wait.. caterpillars would outplay you at basketball? I imagine they would get all sorts of walking penalties and whatnot, since they can't exactly dribble the ball.
>> Anonymous
yeah... I just really suck at bball.
>> Anonymous
Fire, lots and lots of fire.
>> Barksalot !!bUy38Am5hmk
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>>245542
>>245544
>>245545
>>245547
>>245549
>>245550
>>245551
>>245553
>> BitterAnon !!WJLRQ1cwCyZ
>>245558
Give me your lunch money, dweeb.
>> Anonymous
get some natural pesticides that will decay pretty quickly, like stuff made from chrysanthemums.
>> Dr. Biology Anonymous
Looks like you get yerself a pretty damn productive population of Eastern Tent Caterpillars there, OP. Kind of like locusts, these guys have years where they have huge populations booms. Every couple of springs, you can see these guys crawling over the roads and sidewalks and everything, pretty bizarre infestation.

As for your problem, I imagine they started weaving their big nest (which is where they will end up pupating before turning into rather plain-looking moths) right about the time your tree started to leaf out this spring. The caterpillars will probably keep eating and growing until probably late-may when they'll pupate. A few weeks later they'll emerge as moths, fuck like crazy, the females will lay their eggs, and they'll all keel over. The nest/web/tent will biodegrade after that.

Aside from being kind of creepy (that's a pretty heavy infestation) I don't see why you'd want to remove them. Seriously, they won't be around for much longer, maybe a month or so, so I am inclined to suggest that you just leave them alone until they pack up and head out.

Also: I read that you're in Pennsylvania. We're experiencing a lot of these guys down here in the DC metro area. I'm over at Maryland in College Park, myself.
>> BitterAnon !!WJLRQ1cwCyZ
>>245599
Team up with the wimp for an epic nerd vs caterpillar basketball game!
>> Anonymous
Oh Shi- I'm sorry I clicked on your pictures OP. They remind of a traumatic experience I had with Tent Caterpillars as a child. I think I was four or five. I went with my mom to her friends house that was infested with them. It was literally raining caterpillars! We needed umbrellas to walk from the driveway to her house and the ground was covered in squashed dead caterpillars. They were even in her house. When my mom and I got back I saw one on her back and I screamed bloody murder because I thought we had escaped that hell. Oh God get them off me!!!
>> Anonymous
We have these larvae around here some summers, mostly the hot and humid ones, that eat just a specific kind of tree. It's creepy seeing a bunch of ordinary trees somewhere and then BOOM! Ghost tree! They pull their cocoon things right between the branches.
>> Anonymous
Oh fuck, I just realized it's the same species. I guess the south of Sweden really has more critters than Finland. Geez the bike is grim.
>> Anonymous
>>245525
i think those turn into gypsy moth. shitty invasive species
>> Anonymous
KILL IT WITH FIRE

i have those at spring/summer time, they only go for these types of trees, and there's alot of nests per tree, but the trees dont die

once, i throw a big rock into the next, must have ripped the sack, and caterpillars fell out, alot of them, nightmares etcs
>> Anonymous
Wikipedia suggests that ermine moths (the ones in the bike pics) can be got rid of by spraying with ordinary water. Old, established trees like that in the OP's pic will generally survive even the exfoliation cycle however; moths like these just appear some years, they've adapted.

Also the OP should definitely stop cutting off branches because of this. They're just caterpillars, they won't burrow or anything.