White shrouded tree.

[Mika Tuomola]

Nick Greatorex-Davies wrote in message ...
>Tony,
>
>Yes almost certainly one of the small ermine moths - Yponomeuta. there are
eight in the genus in the UK. It partly depends what the bush is (was?) but
the moth can be identified from the larvae. Adults may need dissecting
(depending on species). a likely candidate is the Bird-cherry Ermine
(Yponomeuta yvonymella), which can readily be identified as an adult. The
larvae feed on more than just Bird-cherry (Prunus padus) but I don't have
the books to hand to look up the alternative foodplants. This species does
not eat Hawthorn (Crataegus monogyna) but some of the others do. Three
species feed on Spindle (Euonymus europeaus) the most common being the
Spindle Ermine (Y. cagnagella). I have seen whole sections of hedge (20-30m)
defoliated and covered (similar to your photos) with the webbing of small
ermine moths. A colleague of mine reported seeing large sections of hedge
like this near Oxford in southern England a week or two ago.
>
>The moths (basically white with many small black spots) are illustrated and
described in volume 3 of the Moths and Butterflies of Great Britain and
Ireland (main editor Maitland Emmet).
>
>Nick Greatorex-Davies
>CEH Monks Wood, Huntingdon, UK
>

For information about Yponomeuta, you can check this link:
http://www.funet.fi/pub/sci/bio/life/insecta/lepidoptera/ditrysia/yponomeuto
idea/yponomeutidae
/yponomeutinae/yponomeuta/index.html
(too long for one row)

BR,
Mika Tuomola



 
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