bob the builder said:



Can anyone help there is a strange like cobweb covering from the
base of
the tree all the way to the top but its like silk rapped round every
branch does anyone know what this might be thank you

I'm assuming that if there were any really obvious insects (such as
caterpillars) you would have mentioned them. So I will pass by
them, though there are some species which spectacularly web
entire trees. As for other possibilities...

A lot depends on where you are and what sort of tree it is, but one
possibility would be bark lice (psocids). Psocids are not considered
harmful and are
small, but big enough to see if you tear away the webbing.

Psocid webbing:
http://www.forestryimages.org/images...12/0014098.jpg

Another possibility, if your tree is an ash, would be ash spider mite,
where a large infestation can cover the tree trunk with webbing.
(This is described as a rare and unsual event.) The mites would
be extremely small and best seen with a hand lens. This is the
time of year when such a thing would happen.

Ash spider mite webbing:
http://www.ipm.iastate.edu/ipm/hortnews/node/1985

--
Pat in Plymouth MI

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