I would appreciate any suggestions for what is responsible for this! These appear every year, and I have never managed to pin down what they are. Essentially it appears to be a very fine (invisible to my eyes) silken thread with a dead cedar needle hanging from the end, as if weighting it down. There are number of these hanging from the ends of the lower branches of a large Atlas Cedar in my garden. In the past I have assumed that the needle suspended from the thread was there by accident, but there are so many all the same that this really cannot be the case. I am reminded of the silken thread that Yponomeuta sp. use to escape danger, so assume it may be similar, but I have never seen any larvae of any kind anywhere near, so perhaps something entirely different---maybe not even a moth?
The only "insect-like" object I have found nearby is this, which may have nothing to do with the threads and which is also a complete mystery!
Hello Phil,
ReplyDeleteI would suggest that the second image shows a ladybird pupal case (I have a few of these dotted around my garden too). No idea about the first image!
Thanks Dave, one mystery solved at least!
ReplyDelete