Sarah sent a video to New Ferry Butterfly Park Facebook page
showing a hedge covered with strange webs and thousands of tiny caterpillars
and asked if we knew what it was. It looked spooky but was fascinating.
The caterpillars are from Ermine moths which had laid their
eggs on this hawthorn hedge. Large groups of thousands of caterpillars are
easily seen by predators so the silky web hides them from view.
The webs are usually seen in May to June and slowly
disappear over the summer. By next year the hawthorn hedge will have recovered.
The adult moths fly later in summer and are greyish white with small black dots
and their appearance gives the name ermine moth.
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