Yesterday morning when I went into the garden...this is what I saw...
My whole hedge is covered from top to bottom in cobwebs..WHAT?? giant spider is spinning this web I thought... but on closer inspection, it isn't a spider...
its hundreds and hundreds of tiny caterpillars....
all spinning the amazing silk webs you see on the hedge...
Watching these tiny things make the cobwebs is amazing, I thought only spiders spun webs but these are masters at it LOL!! These caterpillars are the ermine moth, the adult must have laid her eggs in the Autumn and this is the result, in a couple of weeks they will be adults and gone...I just have to remember to keep my doors and windows shut and lights off LOL!!!
The very beautiful..adult Ermine moth.
Hi dear Summer :))) Ooooohhhh Summer these little critters whilst harmless will strip bare there host , there just getting started by the looks of things they will weave a more dense communal web where they can live and eat safely beneath its protective shield from prying praying eyes , you will awake one morning to what appears an early morning ground mist about your hedge and joining floor , dont prop or leave anything in the vicinity of the hedge Summer or it too will become encompassed within the veil :))))... there Ancient Greek name '' Yponomeutidae '' comes from '' ypo '' meaning under and '' nomós '' meaning food or dwelling ..therefore pro mentos '' to feed in secret or to burrow '' five or six sub family groups . But ooohhh lord six seven hundred species predominantly tropical in nature ..they are partial to Black Thorn and Hawthorn as breeding grounds .Once gorged they will chrysalis on mass there ability to make there elaborate shielding web , stems from there ability to make a chrysalis which is woven about there being and made of silk which hardens ..they will then on mass pupate takes about ten days in which they enter the non-feeding stage between the larva and adult in the metamorphosis of holometabolous insects, during which the larva typically undergoes complete transformation within a protective cocoon or hardened case....then dear Summer , one still warm night , when the upward therms are right and moist folded wings can be unfurled for the first time and hardened forever ..a mass exodus of black dotted silvered winged Ermine moths so called because of there Ermine colour of black dot on white ....Ermine in heraldry is '' fur..representing the winter coat of the stoat ..but I digress hahahahaha ..will alite to the moon light sky .beautiful absolutely beautiful :)))).your hedge bush whatever will be knocked I'm afraid dear Summer , but will recover if established , had a invasion here took my gooseberry bush foliage and my dog rose ..you will not be alone dear lady , look to your neighbours , once they hit a area they will not return the following year dear Summer , and they are pollinators be it in there own small way so they do give back to that which they take ..circles dear Summer always circles , cyclonic circles :))))) ...a TRULY WONDERFUL SHARE dearest Summer , depicting one of the many wonders of this world :)))) thank YOU dear lady :) Yours as always and with respects Ban :))))))
ReplyDeleteHi me again hahahaha , yes dear Summer should you be lucky to see there mass exodus, turn out your lights ,that they are not attracted to your inner lights, or a certain feline no names mentioned will be wizzzzzzzing round the house like jack flash in chase of a multitude of Ermine moths hahahahahaha , wont'cha Mr Puddie Cat Bruiser , I like to give my Mum pressies hahahahahaha .Moths use the moon and indeed the sun and stars to guide there navigation , flying parallel or to tangent of said , there evolution from a time wayyyyyy before light bulbs, light bulb is alas therefore mistaken for said terrestrial planets..:))) amazing share dear Summer , , what wonders this world does hold ..thanks again dear Summer , Respects as always Ban :)))))
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