The Winthrop Cankerworm

It’s spring at Winthrop University, which means the time has come for the little green inchworms, otherwise known as canker worms to invade the campus.

It is probably a smart idea to avoid the trees because walking under them may result in an inchworm attack.

After spring is over the cankerworms burrow their way underground and wrap themselves in a cocoon.
Near the end of fall the cankerworm, which has now turned into a wingless (female) or winged (male) moth makes it way up the trunk of a nearby tree to lay its eggs.

Once the moth has laid its eggs it dies.  The inchworms do not hatch until the spring, which explains the multitude of inchworms hanging from the same tree at the beginning of spring.

However, because of the multitude they must fling themselves into the wind and let their silk carry them to another tree, less inhabited.  This provides the cankerworm with more leaves to eat.

The worms are not dangerous and do provide benefit to the environment.  Robins, who are always on a scavenger for worms enjoy the green, hanging treat.

Winthrop Zoologist (???) summed it up best when she said, “There are two types of animals that fly around on their silk, cankerworms and be spiders, and at that point my students usually stop complaining."

Here is a podcast describing the cankerworm life cycle.



And a video about the cankerworms showing their invasion of campus (student reactions)