Question
We have 4 Leland Cyphrus trees that get gray pods or cocoons on them that contain worms. These worms seem to suck the sap out of the trees. My question is what can be done to eliminate these pods from the trees. Any help you provide would be much appreciated.  Thank you.

Answer
These "pods" are the house of an insect called Bagworms. Bagworms are moths that lay their eggs and when the egg hatches the caterpillar forms a bag of silk and leaves as the caterpillar grows the bag gets larger. The simplest way to rid the plants from the bagworm is to hand pick the bags and destroy the bags.The female will stay in the bag and lay her eggs and as the caterpillars hatch they will crawl out and make new homes. This happens in early spring. The foliage can be sprayed with an insecticide to kill the insects as they feed (Sevin or Bt both will work) but picking the bags seems to work best.