Bird-cherry ermine
The bird-cherry ermine is a small white moth with rows of tiny black dots on its wings, like a fancy fur coat. Its caterpillars live together in a huge silky web. Sometimes they wrap a whole bird cherry tree in silk, like a ghost.
How big is it?
How wide are its wings?
How big is Bird-cherry ermine compared to YOU?
Just maths in your browser. Nothing is saved or sent anywhere.
How fast is it?
Fun facts
The caterpillars can eat a whole tree bare, but the tree usually grows new leaves and survives.
Hidden inside their big web, the caterpillars have very few enemies.
When it rests, it rolls its wings tight around its body, so it looks like a little white tube.
The baby caterpillars spend the winter hiding under the scales of the tree's buds.
Long ago, artists painted pictures on these moth webs instead of on paper.
Most asked questions about Bird-cherry ermine
?Are bird-cherry ermine webs harmful?
No. They look spooky, but the caterpillars cannot hurt people, and the tree usually grows new leaves.
?What do bird-cherry ermine caterpillars eat?
Mostly bird cherry leaves. Sometimes they eat cherry or buckthorn too.
?Why is a tree covered in white web?
It is probably the home of ermine moth caterpillars. They live together in big silky webs.
For bug experts
- Scientific name
- Yponomeuta evonymella
- Named by
- Linnaeus, 1758
- Group
- Moths
- Family
- Yponomeutidae
- Classification
- Insecta > Lepidoptera > Yponomeutidae
- Lives on
- Europe, Asia
Where the facts come from
- Bird-cherry ermine (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0): what it looks like, where it lives, what it eats, sizes and fun facts, retold in simple words.
- Picture by Ivar Leidus. CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons. The round sticker of this bug is cut from the same picture.
If we got something wrong, sorry, we are bug fans, not a science journal. Tell us at [email protected] and we will fix it.
Atlas moth
Luna moth
Hummingbird hawk-moth
Domestic silk moth
Isabella tiger moth
Polyphemus moth
Two-spot ladybird
Big-headed ground beetle
Red mason bee
American burying beetle
Common carder bee
Wool carder bee