Fall Webworms

It's that time of year when strange-looking "web" constructions appear on seemingly random trees in the southeastern US. The webs are thick and dense, and are actually wrapped around the ends of some tree branches. They are easily visible from quite a distance away. See the web in the photo, below? (It is much clearer in real-life than it appears in the photo, by the way.)

Walking a little closer...

And a little closer, still...

This web is constructed of thin filaments of what appears to be spider's silk, but there is no spider there — it is the work of a creature called a Fall Webworm, so named because it appears in the late-summer or early fall of the year, and because it resembles a worm.

^{• PHOTO BY ME •}

Although Hyphantria cunea resembles a worm and is called a "webworm," it isn't a true worm. Worms and caterpillars both have segmented bodies, but worms do not have legs as caterpillars do. Worms often live underground or in cool, damp places, but caterpillars live above ground on trees and plants. Worms live their lives as worms, but caterpillars are merely an intermediate larval stage that will eventually become a moth or a butterfly. Fall Webworms mature into moths.

The Fall Webworm is native to North America, but was introduced to Europe sometime during the 1940s, and have now spread to much of Europe and parts of Central Asia. They prefer feeding upon the leaves of hardwood trees, such as oak, elm, hickory, walnut, pecan, and others. Significant damage to the trees is not often seen, but there have been cases where an entire tree has been defoliated. Personally, I have never seen any marked damage to trees in this area.

^{• PHOTO BY ME •}

The following video, taken by me, is a short 8-second clip of the caterpillars wiggling in their nest. Don't play the video if wiggling worms give you the creeps... 😁

https://youtu.be/KBkniq_bu3g^{• VIDEO BY ME •}

When the caterpillars mature, they turn into lovely, white moths. The female is almost pure white, while the male has dark spots on the anterior wings.

^{PHOTOS SOURCE: CARLOS LOPEZ-VAAMONDE, et al., WIKMEDIA COMMONS}

I saw one of the moths, alive, recently, but did not have my cellphone handy to snap a photo of it. But, then I saw one that was dead and photographed it as a reminder of the impermanence of life...

^{• PHOTO BY ME •}