There are lots of green/yellow 'catapillers' just starting to emerge from the silk mass, but they have got into all our clothes that we put in the airing room and made little holes in them!!! How did they get there in the first place? Any help would be great.
This message was edited Jul 21, 2009 10:11 AM
It's difficult to see what's going on here - it appears to be a mass of silky material with lots of fecal pellets in it. I don't see any caterpillars unless the larger dark object hidden in the silk is one. That aside, this does not appear typical of any of the caterpillars that are fabric pests in the UK (clothes moths and carpet/tapestry moths). Perhaps it is possible that a moth that strayed indoors deposited an egg mass, and that any clothing damage was caused in an attempt by the hungry hatchlings to find something to eat. If you can take photos of any of the caterpillars that are out in the open, please post them.
Hi thanks for your reply, here is a pic of one of the catapillers, there must have been 50 or so on the floor and hanging out of there 'homes', some were still in the silk mass. thanks for any help.
Well, at least this definitely eliminated clothes moths as a possibility. On the other hand, I've never seen anything quite like it. The overall shape reminds me of a sack-bearer (family Mimallonidae), but these do not occur in the UK. I hope that some more 'digging' may result in a better answer.
