Cocoons of caterpillar silk

These pictures were taken in Teesdale when we walked the Pennine Way in June 1970. We climbed over a style and were confronted with this bizarre sight. Some naturalists with whom we talked at the youth hostel that evening said maybe there had been a population explosion to cause such extreme behaviour. But maybe it isn't so unusual. An article in The Independent showed a picture taken in Cambridgeshire in June 2010. It described the caterpillars as 'bird cherry ermine moth (Yponomeuta evonymella).

I was inspired to put up these pictures when I saw some superb examples on the 12 June 2010 walk near Blencathra Centre  (2/3 way down the page) on Ann Bowker's Mad about Mountains site. I especially like the enlarged picture .

Click the pictures to enlarge.

Cocoon Close

Cocoon Trees

Cocoon Trunks

Cocoon Wall Top