Avenue of Ghosts

We crossed Jesus Green today on the way into town. We were surprised to notice that one of the avenues of trees was covered in white cobwebs..

The culprit is not spiders, as you might think, but the caterpillars of ermine moths. If you look closely, you can see them. Apparently, they create this huge communal web over themselves and the tree for protection from the birds, then proceed to devour the tree's leaves. It looks like we're stuck with them until July or August, when they'll turn into moths and fly away. That'll be a sight, if they all do it at once. The trees should recover when they've gone.

I found the spectacle quite eery, as if the trees were ghostly shadows of themselves. No wonder it's been dubbed the Avenue of Ghosts.

Find out more, like I did, in this article in the Cambridge News, which also features a slideshow of photos.

The BBC have also covered the story.