Caterpillars on the move....

[cybereye]

Growing up in Sydney I was used to seeing the odd caterpillar or two in trees. However I've never seen this behaviour until this morning (during a work fire-drill no less!) The line of caterpillars would have been about 15-20m long...

Cheers,
Mario

[multiweb]

It's a conga line. Did you guys have the radio on? :P

[eddiedunlop]

They are known as 'processionary caterpillar' or bag shelter moth. They have stinging hairs which can cause mischief if you come into contact with them.

[JB80]

That's pretty cool. I don't think I have seen that before but glad you got some photos to share.

I vaguely recall it's a survival mechanism so a predator most likely a bird can only swoop down on one at a time.
As to the truth of that I don't know but it sounds good at least.

[Mick]

Used to call them itchy grubs at school

[Larryp]

I remember seeing this as a kid quite a bit, but have not seen it for many years. Nice shots, Mario!

[Ric]

Hi Mario

They were practising their fire evacuation drill as well. :D

[Baddad]

:)We used to gently force the lead caterpillar to attach to the end of the line. They would then circle for hours. This we called fun.:D

Cheers:)