One of our readers recently inquired, “Can I take the top off of one tree and move them to another to raise them?” We suspect that he might have missed a word since he uses the word ‘them’ but it is very unclear what ‘them’ refers to. Since this is a website focused on worms, we think that our reader probably wants to move worms from the top of one tree to another tree to raise them.

Our reader didn’t give us very much information to work with, so we will have to make some assumptions about what he is specifically asking about. That being said, it is also possible that we will misinterpret the question our reader asked, and therefore the answers will be unsatisfactory to him. We apologize in advance for any confusion or disappointment.

When we hear from readers who are in distress about the worms in their trees, they are often referring to caterpillars. When present in large quantities, caterpillars can defoliate a tree very quickly. However, there are some specific scenarios in which readers are pleased to have worms in their trees. The most common is when a reader has a Catalpa tree that is inhabited by Catawba worms. Catawba worms are caterpillars, sphinx moth larvae, that are harvested by humans to be used as fishing bait. In fact, in many cases the reason people grow Catalpa trees is solely to harvest these worms.

Catalpa trees and Catawba worms have a mutually beneficial relationship. The foliage of the Catalpa trees is the worms’ only food source, and the tree also provides a home to the worms. In turn, the worms’ dung fertilizes the soil surrounding the tree. If our reader is hoping to transfer Catawba worms from one Catalpa tree to another, we suspect this will be a success. As long as the Catalpa trees are healthy, the Catawba worms will likely be unbiased about which tree they are feeding from!

In summary, a reader asked us a very vague question about trees. We think he might be asking about transferring Catawba worms from one Catalpa tree to another. However, this assumption is quite a stretch, and he might have been asking about something else entirely. We are happy to answer any additional questions he has!