What do I do to get rid of these gypsy moths?

Question

My family lives in a subdivision, and there are quite a few very large maple and oak trees surrounding our house. Now those trees are being covered by gypsy moth larva! At first they were just tiny things, but now they're growing into these big, fat, hideous worms that are clustering underneath branches and stuff that are very far out of our reach, even with a ladder (I think), because these trees are so tall.

How do we get rid of them!? I'm afraid they'll kill our trees, and at least one of these trees would fall right on top of our house if it died...

Answer 1

You are probably going to have to call either a pest control service to have the trees sprayed, or a landscaping service to have the trees cared for.

In the mean time, keep the trees well watered and fertilized.  This helps the trees overcome the onslaught of those catapillars.  

We had issues like you are describing one year with the Tomato Catapillars, (Sphynx Moth), and we had to spray an insecticide called Sevin all over the plants.  Needless to say a couple of days later, the plands were being fertilized by their own attackers.

The other side of the coin is this, if the Catapillars are already that big, they are just about to the point where they are going to change into the moth, so outright killing them will probably be your best bet.  But I would stick with calling the pest control company first, and letting them have a go at it.  

Good Luck!

Answer 2

They sell a product at garden centers that you spray and it causes the larva to wilt. It is organic and easy to use. Look in nursery or hardware store for it. Good luckl