Knowledgebase

What are these webs that are hurting my junipers? #803049

Asked July 26, 2022, 1:15 AM EDT

Hello, these webs suddenly appeared all over my row of juniper trees and I’ve done a lot of Googling trying to figure them out, but they don’t seem to fit any of the results I’ve gotten (tent caterpillars, bag worms, spider mites, webworms) from what I can tell (time of year is wrong or web appearance is wrong, etc). There are literally hundreds of these webs all over the row of gigantic junipers. (And honestly, I think the trees are junipers…) I’m attaching some pictures which mostly show the webs close to the trunks, but the webs are all over the branches out to the tips and all the way up (the trees are about maybe three stories tall and there is a whole row of them - I didn’t plant them and they were tiny when I purchased this property, I had no idea they would rapidly grow into these fat behemoths). The webs seem to have appeared almost overnight about a week or so ago and I don’t think the trees are happy about it (maybe some browning and more leaf drop, it’s hard to tell because I had the bottoms trimmed a couple of years ago so the foliage is higher up). I’m not sure what to do about whatever it is because I am disabled now and on a fixed income and have a friend who will spray whatever we need to spray, but the trees are really tall and hang over my fence into my neighbor’s yard, so any advice on what to do about whatever these webs are would be wonderful. If I have to hire a service, what type would I need to hire and what do I tell them? I’m hoping there’s some sort of DIY answer…Help!

Anne Arundel County Maryland

Expert Response

Hi Gretchen!

The fast growth rate sounds like Leyland cypress, but we'd need to see photos of the overall plant and foliage to try to identify it. 

We suspect the webbing is from psocids (barklice), which are harmless. Despite having “lice” in their common name, bark lice and book lice are not are not parasitic and do not cause harm to plants or people. They graze on mold, yeasts, algae, fungi, and decaying plant matter with their chewing mouthparts. Psocids do well in areas with high humidity that support the growth of their food.

No spraying or management is necessary.

Jamie

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