Many of the trees from Corpus Christi to San Antonio, north to Dallas and throughout east Texas were attacked in 1978 and 1979. Such outbreaks of cankerworms are not predictable and reach high levels with little warning.
Cankerworms pose a threat to broad leaf trees.
Early detection and control measures are necessary for proper control. Other species also are present, but are similar in biology, appearance and control. Cankerworms, in the family Geometridae, often are called inchworms or measuring worms after their walking habit. They move by forming a loop with the central part of the body and then extending the front to straighten out. Adults are drab grey and green mottled moths.