A city centre park has ended up looking ghostly with thousands of wispy white cobwebs draped over trees and bushes.
Shocked locals have called it the "avenue of ghosts" after the historic tree-lined path was transformed by an infestation of bird cherry ermine moth caterpillars which have created the eerie web-like nests.
The entire avenue of trees on Jesus Green in Cambridge is now draped with the spectacular cobweb-like clusters, with experts saying numbers of ermine moths are increasing.
"I was stunned when I saw all the cobwebs, it makes the park look really spooky," said Hannah Atkin, 23, from Cambridge.
"At first I thought it was a frost or spider's webs, but when I looked more closely I realised the trees were actually covered in webs which were full of tiny caterpillars. It really gave me the creeps."
The larvae, which are about an inch long, make large communal silvery webs for protection. They then feast on the surrounding leaves.
Around 16 trees in a long avenue on Jesus Green are now covered and have been stripped bare of their leaves.
Les Hill, data manager of the national moth recording scheme, said the numbers of caterpillars seemed to be increasing.
Source
Yucky! That's nasty and creepy!!!
