Ghost trees

My friend Fiona and I had a lovely walk at Glen Tanar in north east Scotland today. It was a damp grey day and we didn't meet a soul. The Scots pine forest of Glen Tanar is beautiful and all the more atmospheric in with mist hanging over it. We encountered roe deer, toads newts before coming across a group of trees that looked like ghosts, completely draped in webs of silk. On closer inspection, the trees were swarming with larvae, that we identified later as ermine moth larvae. The larvae spin the silk to protect them as they munch through the new green leaves on the tree. Several trees were entirely defoliated and the larvae had started on the leaves of their neighbours. Every few years, larvae reach particularly high densities leaving trees bare and enveloped in silk. Threads hung from the tree with with chains of larvae attached. Quite a sight!