Can you explain this web phenomenon?

I don't know, but it this caused by some sort of caterpillar?



Weechuff

i think it's a caterpillar, don't know what of though. A similar sight has occurred in Battersea Park for the past 2 years, poss more; on a particular species of tree (I don't know that either - doh) the entire tree is engulfed in the silk of these caterpillars which are quite small and unremarkable looking . They strip the tree of all foliage but so far the tree has survived....i haven't given a precise answer there I know but that's it! loving the show by the way,Simon and Chris ROCK!!!

Could be the webbing formed by ermine moth caterpillars

Someone's placed fleece over nettles to keep them clean of insects so that they can use the plants for soup, but the sun has melted it?

It is a kind of Caterpillar, I have the exact same thing one some bushes a couple of roads away from my house. It's some sort of like Silk Worm Caterpillar.



I will share pictures on the Springwatch Flickr group and put links on another post on this blog, soon.



:-)







Wildlife Filmer Adam

*on



P.S the pictures actually capture the Caterpillars going about their business and how they've spread over some bricks on a wall too.







Wildlife Filmer Adam

One of the Ermine Moths, surely?

maybe caterpillars ?? :D think ive seen this before

Silkworms? Never seen anything like it before so it's just a guess :-)

This is what I was just commenting on before you showed it on TV (I live in Dorset ) I have noticed this phenomena is worse than last year. It must be a spider ???????

I saw this on alot of trees at the Falls of Clyde the other day, when I went to watch the Peregrin family.



We thought it was a disease...

I'm pretty sure it's a catapiller

we think they are brown tailed moth catapiller, we actually have a hedge here with exactley the same. please dont touch because you can come out in a very nasty rash. Mandy and Pete dinnage

Brown Ermine Caterpillar - getting more and more in Wiltshire

Ermine moth.

Peacock and Small Tortoiseshell caterpillars live in small groups which form silken webs on large nettle patches in sunny, sheltered locations

caterpillars

think it is the ermin moth caterpillar web

i thought it was a silk worm. Well lots of silk worms :)

Kathryn (11) and James (9) insist its created by caterpillars but they don't know what type :-) Avid young "Springwatchers" though! Please keep up the excellent programmes.

This is the nests of the caterpillars from the brown tailed moth. We found a similar set of nests near us at Hengistbury Head, literally thousands of caterpillars of all sizes feeding on the bushes.

Hi I live in Dorset and the thing that causes this is the Spindle moth or Spindle Ermine Yponomeuta cagnagella which feeds on spindle hedges- looks very creepy -like lots of cobwebs!

I think this is caused by the ermine moth caterpillar!

Would silkworms make this?

I was transported to my childhood...a bush up our road used to have a very similar thing happen and it was caterpillars...little black ones...by the hundreds!!!

Hairy caterpillar, that walk in line nose to tail and I understand are quite an irritant if touched.

It is almost certainly the web created by the caterpilars of the Ermine Moth.



But it looks wonderfully spooky in monlight

I think that it is the work of the ermine catapillar would not be sure.

I think it's the webbing caused by the Brown Tailed Moth

Yes its caterpillars, where my mum lives there is a small bush/tree just the same, quite amazing.

I'm sure it's a worm or caterpillar of some sort

I just think Simon has sneezed!!!!!

I think it's silk worm family that have been busy spinning!

It looks like Cuckoo spit on a grand scale.

I think it may be called a Tent Caterpillar

I believe its made by the catterpillar of the ermine moth, and i have seen this in scheveningen in the netherlands, but never here - Its very pretty :)

is it a Tent caterpillar?

We (Sue & I) think that it is Caterpillar silk

Ermine moth caterpillars - but we didn't know when we saw a similar sight near Bolney, West Sussex. It looked like one of those huge agricultural fleeces had blown off a field, but closer investigation showed the hedgerow absolutly teeming with little caterpillars. Thanks to Malcolm for helping solve our mystery

Is it the Ermine moth catapillar.



Will Schofield

Defoliating moth caterpillars

It's a Ermine Moth Caterpillar Web

Hi



My daughter & i think the odd web is from the catterpillar of the ermin moth. She hopes she's right!!



PS love the show

they are moths... we have four trees covered from top to bottom.. in there webs

I saw something similar in Botswana last year and was told it was spiders webs - could this be it?

I found a coccoon similar to this on my hawthorn and it was full of blackish caterpillars feeding on the leaves.

I'm pretty sure these are the webs made by the Lackey moth. But...many years ago when I lived in Northallerton our bhedges were covered by similar webs which turned out to be the Small Ermine, a micro-moth, I know because I kept some to maturity.

its caterpillars, i live in dorset and see this every year

yes simon it is the web of a lot of moth we had one a couple years ago

We saw this or something similar last week on the Isle of Wight. It was full of small caterpillars. So we also suggest it is caterpillar silk.

It should be 'Hyponomeuta padellus', here in The Netherlands in Rotterdam some cars were completely covered, see:



https://www.depers.nl/UserFiles/Image/2009/200905/20090525/spinselmot%201%20anp%20ed%20oudenaarden.jpg

I think this is related to a book I was reading to my 5 year old tonight. I believe this is caused by catapillars and i think they are Peakcock as they are nettle loving catepillars. I will be really chuffed if this is the case as the book was great beats snow white and the seven dwarfs.

These are from bird cherry ermine moth caterpillars as I have just read in my local paper that in Sutton cemetery in southend they have covered almost a whole part of the cemetery.

I think it is a webbermoth often found in hawthorn hedges or cotonester - my husband saw one in boston spa just the other day

We noticed this on holiday last week in Dorset. Some years ago in the Folkestone, Hythe and Romney Marsh area of Kent, we experienced something similar from the Brown tailed moth which invaded the area. I remember that some people suffered from an allergic reaction from them, if they came into close proximity, something to do with their hairs?

this is a brown tail moth nest

Peacock or small tortois shell did this.

Some breed of caterpillar who weave these webs to prtect themselves from presdators whilst they feed

I posted photos like this on flikr. I caught a small caterpillar on one of my photos. I think some sort of moth caterpillar caused this.

Isabel Carrahar

I think it is catipillar or silkworm

i believe its a catapilla??

I believe Chris Blake is right and it is Ermine Caterpillars

I believe it's the 'bird-cherry ermine moth caterpillar (Yponomeuta evonymella)'web'. Apparently the larvae ravenously feed on hedgerow foliage under the protection of the web until they drop to the ground to pupate. They remain there until they emerge as moths.

This is known as the Blandford Fly - I remember news reports about this a few years ago in Dorset. The insect dessimates hedgerows. My husband has recently been working in Kings Somborne near Winchester and told me about htis strange sight there.

Ermine Moth Caterpillar, there are concerns that this damages Spindle berry bushes in the hedgerow. I've never seen this before here in Mid Sussex.

Hi Simon



These are made by caterpillers. My partner came home after seeing a large web in the bushes saying there is a Tarantula nest and I must go and report it. I went with my 11 year old daugther elicia to investigate and it turned out to be a nest of a dosen or more black/brown caterpillers. These webs were scatter about but no where near the amount in your film.

the mysterious web like material, is if i am right moth larvi, but which moth i do not know.

I think this is caterpillar web created by the ermine caterpillar

I believe this is the same thing as we have had recently in a cemetary not far from where I live in Southend-on-Sea



https://www.echo-news.co.uk/news/8200118.Magic_webs_in_Southend_cemetery/

I think that this is the silk of a Tortoiseshell Butterfly, the stuff that protects their larvae while they pupate.

My daughter, who is nine, thinks it's silk worms. She has been studying them in the garden for days and found that their web or silk looks exactly like the ones on Simons pictures.



Mystery items. 1. could be a bird skeleton of some sort. 2. Tortoise egg shell. 3. Squid mouth part and suckers.

its a type of caterpillar but don't touch it as it gives you a very nasty rash or reaction !

I think it is the butterfly eggs on nettles that have hatched and spun their cocoons. Thank you to all of Springwatch for the great program.

I agree with Chris Blake - Ermine mother caterpillar. Think it is also called a tent moth - for obvious reasons!

It is a massive larval web created by ermine moth caterpillars to protect them from birds and other predators. The web does not cause long term damage to the hedge although it does become defoliated due to the caterpillars feeding in their hundreds within the safety of the web.

Caterpillars

I've seen something very similar,and almost the same size, when i was a kid....in our orchard amongst the hawthorn/may hedgerow, and i think it's made by caterpillars. If i remember correctly the caterpillar's were stripey and hairy.

Hi this is a catapillar possibly the Brown Tail Moth, we have had these at the Spurn Point nature reserve for several years, they are now expanding from here being seen several miles away.



Good program, enjoy it all,

Hollyblogg east yorkshire

i think it's cause buy a brown tailed moth ?

its an ermine catapiller web, it happens a lot around here. One in walton, near street in somerset. Can be regularly seen on the road from parrett works to south petherton, somerset. very eerie!

i also have taken photos of these cobwebs along the hedgerows, however they only covered one side of hedge, and intermitent along the hedge. I wondered if they were made by moths?

Moths. I've seen comment about Hermine moths?? I don't know but moths definitely. Around in Oxford we have it in patchy ways, it looks funny, people often think they are spiders... I'd be worried if spiders webbed things that thick here... can they?

My son Joseph, who is ten, thinks that the webs are made by silk worm caterpillars.

I'm not sure what the phenomena is but it does look quite alien. There is one on the A64 in North Yorkshire between York and Scarborough.

I think it is the Brown-Tail Moth

The thing Simon showed us was the result of the caterpillar of a moth. It decimates a certain tree. The leaf's are stripped bare.

I have seen this befoe and it is caterpillars a huge group that eat all the plants underneaf the protective silk webs

Could be a spindle moth - we had them on a tree in my town - until the

council decided to chop it down because they didnt want them there. They've been here several times.

Hedge thing...has to be Hawthorne eating catepillar...prob a Moth Larve.

This comment was removed because the moderators found it broke the house rules. Explain.

Its ermine moth caterpillars the spin the web and then in silk web pockets the cocoon themselves

For the last two years this hedge plague has been rapidly increasing in the lanes of Herefodshire. I wrote to several 'expert bodies' and all gve me different causes. But Defra wrote the following:





From your description, I believe that you are referring to a species of caterpillar which is the larvae of the Lackey moth (Malacosoma Neustria). They are known as ‘tent caterpillars’ and are common in England.



The caterpillars feed in communal webs on low shrubs and sometimes trees, and are commonly found in suburban hedges and planting schemes.

You do not need to notify anyone of the presence of Lackey moths.



David Morgan

Web made by ermine moth. jean Evans North walea

Spindle ermine moth caterpillars I reckon.

Is it the world's biggest ever spider sneeze?

It's the larva of the ermine moth, we saw them last week on a walk from Sedbergh to Kirby Lonsdale.



We really enjoy the show, keep up the good work.

My 9 year old son Callum Lewis from Crynant in Neath, South Wales thinks it the web of caterpillers that Simon as asked to identify. keep up the good work this years show is the best yet.

simons phenomenon is from the ermine moth caterpillar which is also quite abundant around west sussex at the moment

Could be Tunnel Web Spider(s)??

Is it maybe a giant web from spindle ermine larvae?