Is it those dreadful hairy catterpillars that seem to come from nowhere and eat all the leaves quickly. They all follow along very close together in a trail, and itch like mad if you happen to touch one. They just love white cedars.

Yes those hairy grubs are on the move now. My wife sprays the tree all over and the ground surrounding it/them with CHLORPYRIFOS 500EC. I don't know if it is available from your local gardening centre.

We obtained it from a commercial rural supplier as a ant mover. I had trouble with green ants around my vegie garden (seems to work on red jumper ants also), I don't think it kills the ants, they just move camp due to the chemical polution, as we still have plenty of ant. But now they are not around the edges of my vegie beds.

White Cedars seem to be the favourite food of the hairy caterpillar. During the day they live at ground level beneath the mulch at the base of the tree. At night they climb up and devour the leaves. I used a surface spray with some success otherwise some other sort of chemical such as suggested above. A friend suggested a barrier around the lower trunk/base of the tree such as grease. Otherwise tie a hessian bag around the base of the tree and you will find them all under there during the day. Then you can dispose of them.

Wow, thanks everyone. I have seen those little hairy buggers around, just never on the trees. They will be dealt with!
Laura

You can also put a barrier of something smooth such as plastic around the trunk that the caterpillars cannot negotiate. They cannot get back up.

Hi All, you could also try a ring of Vick's Vapour Rub around the base to stop ants grubs, and if you have Tip Moth/Grub they chew the tips out of them you could try some neem oil spray on them also. Good luck. Peter R

Lebaycid used at 2.5mls per 5 ltrs(systemic & expensive) kills em on contact and Carbaryl if used at 30grms wettable powder to 5 ltrs with a wetting agent and sprayed on leaves will poison them when they feed(cheap). The worst damage I get to my White cedars is done by Red Tailed Black Cockatoos. ATB teddy,J

Does anyone know of an organic and safe pesticide treatment for this caterpillar? Our white cedar tree is being eaten for the 3rd year in a row and the caterpillars are everywhere, including in the house. We have kids and dogs so I don't want to spray. I tried a garlic spray and salt but they didn't work. I'm wondering should I tie a hessian bag around the base of the tree and then catch the little blighters and destroy them? Would this be enough? Any help greatly appreciated.

There is a biological treatment for caterpillars called "Dipel". I dont know if it would be effective on a tree or that particular type of caterpillar though. It comes in a powder that you just mix with water and spray on the leaves. It is available everywhere(Nurseries and hardwares).

WARNING
Before taking any action on caterpillars, you should know that you will be in massive trouble with Paul(Spearboy) if he finds out about it! See "Caterpillars" in Gardening in Oz.
Bryan

sprinkle ant rid powder on them they fall to the ground instantly and die only require treatment once it works

Yes the hessian skirt works. After they collect put hessian loaded with grubs in bucket of hot water.

kbmfmail is a legend!

I have placed the described bands around our white cedars, way up, past any hidey-holes. The first night they came out in force! Though none could pass the line of grease. In the morning, some that were up in the trees originally (I figure) came down and I just knocked them off the tree to being below the line. They have been going nuts since and turning up in the house- seeking food... After 3 days now, there appears to be less of them already.

Another trick to keep them out of your house is to use gaffa (fabric) tape- sticky side up to create a boarder around the door/entrance. You stick down the edges with other tape . They can't cross it...

The idea of hessian wrapped around the trunk was put to me by the local Council agronomist. Our tree is somewhat old and has many fissures in the various trunks, making it a little difficult to effectively wrap the hessian. However, acting on advice from Council, the trunk was wrapped.

As has happened in the past, grubs started appearing on our house cream rendered walls and my wife (seasonal occurrence), gave me a bit of stick. I thought the hessian trick was a failure. Close examination of the hessian showed however nests of hundreds of the furry grubs living in the hessian folds. It was difficult to smash them all with a hammer as had been suggested by the agronomist because they kept falling out and disappearing in the grass. I imagine removing the hessian to put it in hot water would also allow many grubs to disappear unharmed.

I now intend to buy some pesticide as suggested in earlier posts, mix a bit of liquid detergent with it to act as a surfactant and drown whats left of the infestation.

It is a beautiful tree and I really don't want to have it cut down.

The problem with the hessian trick is that it needs daily attendance to kill the caterpillars. It's a dirty unpleasant task and you need to be more diligent than I am to make yourself do it every day. And these caterpillars are relentless so if you are just the tiniest bit slack in your efforts, they will thrive. Use my grease ring trick. You only need to put the grease ring up at the beginning of summer, re-grease maybe once or twice a season, then take down at the end of the season.

By the way, I don't use duct tape as my substrate any more. I use a strip of plastic nailed to the tree. I glued foam backing onto it that fills in the crevices in the trunk so that there are no gaps under it that the hairies can get through. It's only loosely nailed so I can take it down at the end of the season.