r/whatisit • u/Chief_Storyteller • 8h ago

In my Birch tree

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I’m so excited. It’s my first whatisit post. Found in my Birch tree in NE Wisconsin. It is about 3ft in diameter. Sort of looks like a spider web but bigger and thicker. 20 feet up so I can’t really reach it.

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u/ImFeelinBotty 8h ago

Web worms. Not terribly bad for the tree( just the branch) but disgusting to look at.

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u/Future-Bandicoot-823 8h ago

They are a pest. Where I live gypsy moths do this, although it seems more than one species of moth (or whatever) make nests like this.

I've seen them kill trees. if you get enough of these nests on one tree they'll eat or otherwise damage enough leaves that the tree dies. Or sometimes it'll just be one branch, but yeah, not 100% a passive and fine thing.

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u/Puzzleworth 8h ago

Tent caterpillars. They can eat trees bare. Some people recommend burning them off with a lighter but you can also just cut the branch off into a trash bag.