How to Get Rid of Web Worms on a Live Oak Tree

Overview

Web worms (Hyphantria cunea) infesting your live oak tree are easy to detect. Also known as yellow-necked caterpillars, web worms create silky, light gray webs around leaves and branches and can cause severe defoliation. If your oak tree has a persistent infestation, occurring for several consecutive years, the tree's branches may even begin to die back. Web worms are moth larvae that are usually yellowish-green with a dark, broad stripe down their backs and yellow stripes down each side of their bodies. When the larvae hatch, they create a web over the tree's foliage and feed on the leaves.

Step 1

Remove and destroy any leaves that you can reach containing the webs or eggs. Prune away smaller branches containing the webs.

Step 2

Attract birds to your live oak tree to help get rid of the web worms naturally. Hang bird feeders in the infested oak tree, and place a birdbath near the base of the tree to attract birds that will eat the web worms.

Step 3

Introduce natural predators of web worms to your live oak tree. Release parasitic wasps or assassin bugs into your oak tree, and allow them to take over and feed on the web worms.

Step 4

Spray the infested areas of the oak tree using a hose-end sprayer with an insecticide containing tebufenozide or Bacillus thuringiensis, which will selectively kill the caterpillars without harming other beneficial insects. Try to spray the insecticide after the eggs hatch but before the web worms form thick webs.