WTF Is Lurking Inside These Creepy, Sci-Fi Looking Cocoon Webs in Bushes?

Talk about getting totally creeped out.

I was detoured off the highway due to a major accident as we've all been. Of course it happened during the morning commute as myself and everyone else venturing in the same direction inched along on a side road in that annoying stop-and-go fashion until we could eventually get back onto the highway.

While I was stopped, just looking around in this beautifully lush, residential main road, I was startled when my gaze took me these sci-fi looking webs attached to various branches on several bushes.

I was like what could possibly be lurking inside these things? I was waiting for claws to start poking out like some creature was hatching; maybe a huge spider or bat. My imagination ran wild. Or maybe thousands of baby spiders or some kind of creepy crawlers were going to start pouring out at any minute like a horror movie.

The following day I took the detour so I could pull over, turn on my hazards, and grab some photos to investigate and write an article.

Alas here we are and here's what I've discovered.

According to the BioKIDS website, these silk cocoon structures are how various insects spin webs to shelter themselves. In this case, these belong to caterpillars. They protect the caterpillar larvae that's developing and will eventually emerge out of the cocoon home and then most likely turn into the eastern tent caterpillar and then a moth.

They don't do any damage really according to the This is My Garden website. These webworms as they're called may strip some leaves a bit but overall it's just nature doing its thing. They appear in the fall and in the spring.

Of course a huge infestation could be damaging to your garden or bushes and in that case, according to This is My Garden, there are various ways to control or kill these larvae which your horticulturist or Google can help you with.