Yes - as I keep saying, Euonymus webworm ;-)

Yponomeuta cognatella

Somehwere further up the thread is a ref to a french wikipaedia page which has a very good pic of both damage and caterpillars, and excellent match to what you posted.

"Cat(h)" wrote in message
...
On Jun 10, 3:59 pm, kay wrote:
Cat(h);890574 Wrote:



The photos I have found of the ermine moth caterpillars handy work are
far more like what I have come across than the Lackey Moth's - and the
caterpillars of the LM are bigger, hairier and darker than those I
have found - so I think Martin is on the right track - thank you both
in any case.

Though the pictures in the Collins guide of both white ermine and buff
ermine caterpillars did not look like the pictures you posted.

--
kay

Hmm. Fair point, I was obviously a little hasty. The web work looks
very similar to what I saw here. So, the mystery remains whole...
Any idea what they might be?

Collect a few of the caterpillars and feed them up until they pupate. If
they are Magpie moth caterpillars, they will emerge about 2 weeks later and
then you will know!

Phil

On Mon, 14 Jun 2010 14:06:22 +0100, Cat(h) wrote
(in article
):

On Jun 10, 11:19*pm, "Phil Gurr" wrote:
"Cat(h)" wrote in message

...
On Jun 10, 9:08 am, Gopher wrote:





In message
,
"Cat(h)" writes

I live in the countryside of the Eastern Midlands of Ireland, near a
motorway. As part of the landscaping of one of the motorway junctions
a few hundred meters from my garden, a limited variety of plants were
planted, including one which is currently being almost completely
wiped out by a type of tent caterpillar, at the exclusion of all other
plants..
I do not recognise the plant, nor do I know the pest. The beasties
have transformed almost all the bushes they attack into ghostly
creations which are quite amazing in the early morning sunrise, but a
bit scary in view of the speed with which this has all happened.
I have taken a few pics, with links below. The caterpillars are about
2.5 to 3cm in length.
Can anyone shed some light on those amazing blighters, and the plant
they appear to prefer above all others?
Many thanks in advance.
Ca t()

The plant
http://tinypic.com/r/6yfig9/6

The ghostly bushes
http://tinypic.com/r/28mibfr/6

The beasties
http://tinypic.com/r/x417qq/6

http://tinypic.com/r/28a7rci/6

These are caterpillars of the Magpie moth, a common pest of gooseberries,
but its favoured food plant is Euonymus.

Phil- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

I just googled the magpie moth caterpillar, and they look a lot darker
and hairier than those I have come across - but maybe they come in
paler, and less hairy varieties?

Caít()

Cait, did you see my reply when I suggested they might be the caterpillars of
the Hawthorn Webber Moth?


--
Sally in Shropshire, UK
Posted through uk.rec.gardening

On Jun 14, 5:46*pm, Sally Thompson wrote:
On Mon, 14 Jun 2010 14:06:22 +0100, Cat(h) wrote
(in article
):



On Jun 10, 11:19*pm, "Phil Gurr" wrote:
"Cat(h)" wrote in message

....
On Jun 10, 9:08 am, Gopher wrote:

In message
,
"Cat(h)" writes

I live in the countryside of the Eastern Midlands of Ireland, near a
motorway. As part of the landscaping of one of the motorway junctions
a few hundred meters from my garden, a limited variety of plants were
planted, including one which is currently being almost completely
wiped out by a type of tent caterpillar, at the exclusion of all other
plants..
I do not recognise the plant, nor do I know the pest. The beasties
have transformed almost all the bushes they attack into ghostly
creations which are quite amazing in the early morning sunrise, but a
bit scary in view of the speed with which this has all happened.
I have taken a few pics, with links below. The caterpillars are about
2.5 to 3cm in length.
Can anyone shed some light on those amazing blighters, and the plant
they appear to prefer above all others?
Many thanks in advance.
Ca t()

The plant
http://tinypic.com/r/6yfig9/6

The ghostly bushes
http://tinypic.com/r/28mibfr/6

The beasties
http://tinypic.com/r/x417qq/6

http://tinypic.com/r/28a7rci/6

These are caterpillars of the Magpie moth, a common pest of gooseberries,
but its favoured food plant is Euonymus.

Phil- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

I just googled the magpie moth caterpillar, and they look a lot darker
and hairier than those I have come across - but maybe they come in
paler, and less hairy varieties?

Caít()

Cait, did you see my reply when I suggested they might be the caterpillars of
the Hawthorn Webber Moth?

--
Sally in Shropshire, UK
Posted through uk.rec.gardening

I did, thanks Sally. I googled for images as suggested, but the
caterpillars did not look anything like the ones I have come across.

http://www.growsonyou.com/question/s...s-caterpillars

I must say that the googling was rather unsatisfying because of the
apparent variability of what different websites seemed to refer to
hawthorn webber moth caterpillars...
The photos on the BBC website below are very like the webbing I came
across, and they attribute it to the spindle ermine moth.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/natureuk/...o.shtml?page=2

Which led me to further googling, which yielded this:

http://ukmoths.org.uk/show.php?bf=427

Matching the webbing, the afflicted plant (thank you kay), and the
looks of the larva - even if the pic is unclear re. scale.

Thanks to all of you, I think I finally have my beast :-)

Caít()

On 15/06/10 23:00, Cat(h) wrote:
On Jun 14, 5:46 pm, Sally Thompson wrote:
On Mon, 14 Jun 2010 14:06:22 +0100, Cat(h) wrote
(in article
):



On Jun 10, 11:19 pm, "Phil Gurr" wrote:
"Cat(h)" wrote in message

...
On Jun 10, 9:08 am, Gopher wrote:

In message
,
"Cat(h)" writes

I live in the countryside of the Eastern Midlands of Ireland, near a
motorway. As part of the landscaping of one of the motorway junctions
a few hundred meters from my garden, a limited variety of plants were
planted, including one which is currently being almost completely
wiped out by a type of tent caterpillar, at the exclusion of all other
plants..
I do not recognise the plant, nor do I know the pest. The beasties
have transformed almost all the bushes they attack into ghostly
creations which are quite amazing in the early morning sunrise, but a
bit scary in view of the speed with which this has all happened.
I have taken a few pics, with links below. The caterpillars are about
2.5 to 3cm in length.
Can anyone shed some light on those amazing blighters, and the plant
they appear to prefer above all others?
Many thanks in advance.
Ca t()

The plant
http://tinypic.com/r/6yfig9/6

The ghostly bushes
http://tinypic.com/r/28mibfr/6

The beasties
http://tinypic.com/r/x417qq/6

http://tinypic.com/r/28a7rci/6

These are caterpillars of the Magpie moth, a common pest of gooseberries,
but its favoured food plant is Euonymus.

Phil- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

I just googled the magpie moth caterpillar, and they look a lot darker
and hairier than those I have come across - but maybe they come in
paler, and less hairy varieties?

Caít()

Cait, did you see my reply when I suggested they might be the caterpillars of
the Hawthorn Webber Moth?

--
Sally in Shropshire, UK
Posted through uk.rec.gardening

I did, thanks Sally. I googled for images as suggested, but the
caterpillars did not look anything like the ones I have come across.

http://www.growsonyou.com/question/s...s-caterpillars

I must say that the googling was rather unsatisfying because of the
apparent variability of what different websites seemed to refer to
hawthorn webber moth caterpillars...
The photos on the BBC website below are very like the webbing I came
across, and they attribute it to the spindle ermine moth.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/natureuk/...o.shtml?page=2

Which led me to further googling, which yielded this:

http://ukmoths.org.uk/show.php?bf=427

Matching the webbing, the afflicted plant (thank you kay), and the
looks of the larva - even if the pic is unclear re. scale.

Thanks to all of you, I think I finally have my beast :-)

Caít()

So I was right :-)

On Jun 15, 10:49*pm, Martin wrote:
On 15/06/10 23:00, Cat(h) wrote:





On Jun 14, 5:46 pm, Sally Thompson wrote:
On Mon, 14 Jun 2010 14:06:22 +0100, Cat(h) wrote
(in article
):

On Jun 10, 11:19 pm, "Phil Gurr" wrote:
"Cat(h)" wrote in message

...
On Jun 10, 9:08 am, Gopher wrote:

In message
,
"Cat(h)" writes

I live in the countryside of the Eastern Midlands of Ireland, near a
motorway. As part of the landscaping of one of the motorway junctions
a few hundred meters from my garden, a limited variety of plants were
planted, including one which is currently being almost completely
wiped out by a type of tent caterpillar, at the exclusion of all other
plants..
I do not recognise the plant, nor do I know the pest. The beasties
have transformed almost all the bushes they attack into ghostly
creations which are quite amazing in the early morning sunrise, but a
bit scary in view of the speed with which this has all happened.
I have taken a few pics, with links below. The caterpillars are about
2.5 to 3cm in length.
Can anyone shed some light on those amazing blighters, and the plant
they appear to prefer above all others?
Many thanks in advance.
Ca t()

The plant
http://tinypic.com/r/6yfig9/6

The ghostly bushes
http://tinypic.com/r/28mibfr/6

The beasties
http://tinypic.com/r/x417qq/6

http://tinypic.com/r/28a7rci/6

These are caterpillars of the Magpie moth, a common pest of gooseberries,
but its favoured food plant is Euonymus.

Phil- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

I just googled the magpie moth caterpillar, and they look a lot darker
and hairier than those I have come across - but maybe they come in
paler, and less hairy varieties?

Caít()

Cait, did you see my reply when I suggested they might be the caterpillars of
the Hawthorn Webber Moth?

--
Sally in Shropshire, UK
Posted through uk.rec.gardening

I did, thanks Sally. *I googled for images as suggested, but the
caterpillars did not look anything like the ones I have come across.

http://www.growsonyou.com/question/s...e-please-ident...

I must say that the googling was rather unsatisfying because of the
apparent variability of what different websites seemed to refer to
hawthorn webber moth caterpillars...
The photos on the BBC website below are very like the webbing I came
across, and they attribute it to the spindle ermine moth.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/natureuk/...lain-this-web-...

Which led me to further googling, which yielded this:

http://ukmoths.org.uk/show.php?bf=427

Matching the webbing, the afflicted plant (thank you kay), and the
looks of the larva - even if the pic is unclear re. scale.

Thanks to all of you, I think I finally have my beast :-)

Caít()

So I was right :-)- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

Absolutely! Thanks to you too :-)

Caít()

So was I ;-)

(I even gave the latin name)

Just shows why one should use the latin rather than one of the many english names.