How To Spot And Remove These New York Pests’ Egg Blobs From Trees

By now, you may have heard that the Gypsy moth had to change its name as part of the woke war. The moth formerly known as "Gypsy" is now called the "Spongy Moth." Even though the name has changed, the destruction of our trees is the same.

Get our free mobile app

The spongy moth is the "poster child" for invasive species. If you see a spongy moth, you are encouraged to destroy it. The males are brownish with black markings and are the ones that you'll see flying.

The female is white with brown markings that look like an inverted V pointing toward the head. The biggest problem is the eggs that the spongy moth lays in the trees. When they lay eggs, it's not just one, two, five, or a dozen, it's an egg mass and it can irreparably harm your trees.

So if you see the spongy moth egg masses, what should you do next? First, you need to identify what the egg masses look like so that you're removing the right problem. They are teardrop-shaped,1-2 inches long and can have as many as 1,000 eggs.

The good news is that you can physically remove the egg masses. Scrape the egg masses into a jar and microwave on high for two minutes. If your spouse is going to FREAK OUT because you are using the microwave to get rid of moth eggs, then you can cover them with soapy water for at least 2 days to kill the eggs.

Make Sure You Kill The Spongy Moth Eggs

If you just scape the moth mass eggs onto the ground, they will survive and hatch in May. You should wear gloves when handling the egg masses because the hairs in the "felt" could give you a skin rash.

You can go here to find other ways to get rid of this pesky pest.