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This is one of the most odd things I'we ever seen in Sweden. This / these trees is covered, from root to top with a net. (Pic. no. 5 is showing one of the nests, about 2,5 meters up in the trees)
I'm not very good at trees, but the spotting was in woodlands with mixed types of trees. Unf. I think that the ID of the tree is the key to Identify the species.
All the leaves were eaten except at the very top of the tree. My guess is that it is some type of moth larva. All infested trees were of the same kind. Some local information on any conceivable species of moth larvae that live in colonies in trees and shrubs, where they surround themselves with a web-like net; Plutella maculipennis, Tinea pellionella, Trichophaga tapetzella, Sitotroga cerealella and Yponomeuta evonymellus.
Spotted on Jun 30, 2013
Submitted on Jul 3, 2013
13 Comments
Fascinating!
I think they are different types favouring different trees. I went back to the place for my spotting a week ago, and the web was still there, almost intact. But the tree had leafs now and looked healthy. Fantastic that the web is there after three months!
Something I just came across, could be the answer to this spotting http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-cam...
Thank you for reminding me about this spotting :) Interesting reading in that link you pasted. It was a few things I reacted on that made me doubt that this could have been done by something similar... The leaves on the tree was gone, probably eaten, and it was observed in early summer. This made me do some more research and I think I have found out what type of insect that did this in Sweden, and that is due to your comment :)
It seems to be the Moth Bird-cherry Ermine (Yponomeuta evonymella), here is a link to a Swedish page with a similar photo. http://www.azote.se/index.asp?q=n%E4t&am.... My larvae case can bee seen in photo #5
I would appreciate some kind of confirmation...
Awesome spotting, Tina.
Some species of Barklice also cause this phenomenon.
http://www.gardeningwithtomleroy.com/a-f...
There are little red things with whitish legs in pictures 2 and 6 - could they be the mites?
Did you see any little red mites like in the article mentioned by Suzanne?
Lauren, there were no larvaes left, only the empty shells (picture five) after spome kind of metamorphosis. A few days earlier I saw green larvaes in smaller web-cases. Suzanne, from what I saw there, there were some mm of space between the stem and the web, even if it was solid. Perhaps the inside of the web was used at a "safe transport" from the ground to the branches with leaves. When I ripped a piece off, it felt more like thin cotton, than a web. It was not elastic at all. :)
Amazing and weird! Some kind of Bag-worm? Are those larvae in the web between the two tree trunks in the 5th picture?
Here's something similar ... http://www.ipm.iastate.edu/ipm/hortnews/...
That's the strangest thing! I wish I could have been there to see it. The trees look "shrink-wrapped," as if the web material, if that's what it is, went on all in one large, unbroken piece ... really intriguing.
Yes! I felt like I stepped into a Hitchcock movie when I saw it! :D
impressive web ;)