Trees in an Essex cemetery have been covered by a giant silvery blanket, described as "spooky" and "ghost-like" by locals. But the strange phenomenon is in fact the work of a legion of caterpillars.
Bird cherry ermine moth caterpillars (Yponomeuta evonymella) appeared a few weeks ago and now cover everything from shrubs and hedges to the tombstones in Sutton Road Cemetery in Southend-on-Sea.
Curator of natural history in the borough, Roger Payne told Channel 4 News: "The caterpillars work in boom and bust cycles. Their main predators are parasites and in particular the parasitic wasp which buries its eggs inside them.
"There appears to have been fewer of those this year hence the increase in the number of caterpillars."
There are eight different varieties of ermine moth.
The bird cherry species is just one and is named after the tree it both feeds on and lays its eggs in. The caterpillars don’t harm the host they rely on to survive, but they are known to strip the trees entirely of their leaves when feeding.
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